Brantly Sheffield: It was a Good Time

brantly sheffield: it was a good time

June 17 - July 22, 2023

Press Release

Ro2 Art is thrilled to present It Was a Good Time, an exhibition of new work by Brantly Sheffield. The exhibition will open June 17 and remain on view through July 29, 2023, at Ro2 Art located at 2606 Bataan St., Dallas, TX.

Brantly Sheffield’s portraits exude familiarity and personality. The distortion of the figures illustrate his emphasis on rendering the figure’s personalities. Sheffield gives agency and awareness to his figures in order to generate a response from the viewer. His pieces delve into the relationships we keep and the intimate impact that they have on our lives and the persons that we become. These narrative elements seek to encourage the viewer to form a relationship with the figures, one designed to entice playfulness. Sheffield's unique take on reality is beautifully encapsulated in and throughout his artwork.

show Statement

The paintings feature characters from my life. I believe we are defined by the company we keep, and my sense of self is very much wrapped up in the communities, people, places, and things I interact with. I strike a balance between extremely personal narratives around each figure and the universal sense of familial bonds that painting activates. I use drawing to add a contorted aspect to the figure that makes it both indicative of personality as well as create a sense of familiarity that feels as though they are known people. The figures are aware, and in most cases strike a pose in response to compositional situations. It’s kind of like responding when someone tells you to “smile” or is staring at you. It is an invitation to interact with the painting. They almost force you to play a role in their narrative through the figure’s reactive nature. Inciting you, inviting you to have a good time.

About the Artist

Brantly Sheffield is an artist based in Dallas Texas. He was born October 18th, 1991 in Montgomery, Alabama. He grew up in Edmond Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City. Brantly found art through high school. A couple of his teachers told him he had potential, and a little later found out art school was a thing. After being reassured art school is a real thing, and he would not have to take any math classes, after that he focused on getting into the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City Missouri.

Brantly attended the Kansas City Art Institute from 2010-2014. He graduated with a BFA in Illustration. In 2012 he studied fresco painting and art history at The Studio Art College International in Florence Italy. Between 2015-2017 Brantly studied at Boston University where he earned his MFA in painting.

Brantly has shown his work nationally and internationally in juried and curated group exhibitions since 2013. He had his first solo show in 2015 at the Late Show art gallery where he was represented between 2013-2017. He was a resident artist at the Cedars Union Incubator for the Arts in Dallas Texas between March 2020 to December 2021. He was nominated for Boston University’s Kahn Award in 2017 and Brantly has been nominated for the 2023 Artsy Vanguard Award. He is currently represented by RO2 Art in Dallas Texas.