Abstract painter Casper Brindle renders pure color in aerated layers that capture and refract light, creating breath and a sense of motion with their awe-inspiring luminosity. Heartily influenced by the legacy of the Light and Space movement—which embraced the qualities of wonder in newfangled materials like resin and airbrush, as well as the imagination-fueling advances in interstellar travel—Brindle updates that art historical framework with a modern-day love of the surf and car cultures of his Los Angeles youth. Using automotive paint to enhance that space-age shine as well as an elusive sense of nostalgia in the super-charged palette, Brindle layers delicate coats which seem to capture light in between—later to release it to viewers in an eternal glow. Seeming to change as the viewer moves past them, and carrying the illusion of distant horizons or doors (of perception) as a framework, the magic in Brindle’s canvases actually happens in the eye of their beholders.
L.A. WEEKLY: When did you first know you were an artist?
CASPER BRINDLE: The arts have surrounded me since birth. I was born to a fashion designer mother, and an architect father. My mother, especially, encouraged me to express myself through art. I gravitated to the arts-related classes in middle school, which became an outlet as I navigated my way through adolescence.
What is your short answer to people who ask what your work is about?
My work is inherently personal, be it about nature or its varied extensions. Making art is an emotional response to the spaces and light I live in and interact with. Though the world around me is complex and multi-dimensional, I aim to create work that evokes and reflects the senses of contemplation, wonder, awe, and sensory engagement that nature does. I want my work to speak for itself. It’s what keeps me sane! As to what it’s about, I would say it is my innate poetic reply to the world.
What would you be doing if you weren’t an artist?
Formula One driver. I decided I had a better chance at being an artist, at least from a “not dying” perspective!
Did you go to art school? Why/Why not?
I took a few art classes that interested me, but most of my art education was through an apprenticeship with Eric Orr in the late 80s and early 90s. I learned a lot from both aesthetic and technical perspectives. Eric was great and an inspiration for what the life of an artist could look like.
Why do you live and work in L.A. and not elsewhere?
Los Angeles is what I know, as I’ve lived here since the age of four or five. The light in Los Angeles is unlike anywhere else. Also, living in a city that is not on the coast is non-negotiable for me. It lets me get out on the water or engage with nature daily. It feeds and inspires so much of what I do in my artwork.
When was your first show?
My first public collective art show was an AIDS benefit in the early to mid-eighties here in Los Angeles.
When is/was your current/most recent/next show or project?
I have several group exhibitions in Los Angeles and Newport, California; Miami, Florida; and Brussels, Europe. My recent solo exhibition was at The Luckman Gallery at Cal State LA, curated by Mika Cho, and closed in November 2022.
What artist, living or dead, would you most like to show or work with?
There are so many, but two quickly come to mind. James Turrell and Pierre Huyghe. Both artists’ visions are so lucid, and the scale of work they produce is inspiring. They play with magic.
Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what?
When I’m tasked with tedious administrative busy work, I typically listen to NPR or a podcast to keep my brain engaged. While painting, I listen to chill house or trance to fully get in the zone. I may even throwback to Cocteau Twins for some inspiration.