Today we’d like to introduce you to Brea Weinreb.
Hi Brea, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Thank you for speaking with me! My name is Brea Weinreb and I am a painter based in Downtown Los Angeles. I started painting when I was in high school. My grandfather was a comic book artist for DC Comics and he was the reason art was a part of my life from a young age. He used to take me to the art museum near our home in Long Island, New York where my love of painting began. I then did my undergrad at UC Berkeley where I studied Art Practice & English, and I got my first “real” studio in Oakland, California right after graduating in 2016. I’ve been painting nonstop ever since. In 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to move to Albuquerque, New Mexico in order to continue painting full-time away from the demands of living in an expensive city. My studio in Albuquerque was both the largest and least expensive studio I’ve ever had. That, coupled with the isolation granted from living in a place where I only knew a few people, gave me the freedom to focus on my practice and create the paintings I’d always wanted to make. I moved to Los Angeles in April 2022 in order to be closer to the galleries I work with as well as be a part of a larger community of artists. I will always be grateful for my time in New Mexico which helped me to create the rigorous studio practice that continues to sustain my career today.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I feel extremely grateful for where I am at in my career. I never expected to be a full-time painter. Previous to painting full-time, the greatest struggle was finding time to balance having a day job and a studio practice. I used to paint at night and on the weekends, which left me with very little time for anything or anyone else. It also made it difficult to experiment in the studio because my hours there felt so precious and limited. Recently I’ve encountered new struggles in my practice, mainly surrounding how to continue to push my paintings and grow as an artist while also being cognizant of the art market and its demands. I try really hard to stay true to myself and not let sales or expectations from others dictate what I paint, but it’s definitely a constant mental battle to quiet any external voices when I enter the studio. I find solace in speaking with other artists as well as reading the journals of late artists from decades past who dealt with the same struggles and held steadfast to their visual convictions.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I make paintings of gay men from my own queer, female perspective. My paintings are large-scale, brightly-colored, densely detailed, and often fun, playful and humorous. The men I paint are my friends and we have a blast together — which is hopefully evident in the paintings. There is a long history of men painting women from a standpoint of desire, and I am fascinated by subverting this dynamic. There is this photo of Cezanne in his studio in front of one of his large paintings of female bathers that I am obsessed with – he is clothed and looks cold and serious, while the female figures in the painting are distorted and kind of homoerotic (a teacher once pointed out to me that he often made his females look like phalluses). I have this photo hanging in my studio and I love thinking of myself as a flamboyant reincarnation of him, but instead of towering over my naked subjects I join in on the play.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I often listen to art podcasts while I work – a few that I love are Sound & Vision, The Modern Art Notes Podcast and the Great Women Artists Podcast. However, my best resource now and forever will always be other artists! I am in a studio building with about 40 other amazing artists, and it’s so helpful to have people around to bounce ideas off of, ask for feedback and advice, and just generally talk shop.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.breaweinreb.com
- Instagram: @breaweinreb
Image Credits
Headshot: Francis Augusto. All other photos courtesy of myself.
