Milwaukee Art Exclusive: Brian Hibbard

              Milwaukee Art Exclusive: Brian Hibbard

I got a chance to catch up with the artist Brian Hibbard. We met up at Prospect Colectivo to talk art. We started off with where he hailed from and what the art scene held for him in his hometown of De Pere, Wisconsin. He talked about his first studio space that he acquired at age 24. The Art Garage was its name and experimentation was the game, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before the studio, this studious artist attended UW Whitewater. There he pursued an Art minor making it his mission to diversify his knowledge of art techniques and mediums. He was not dissatisfied saying:

“The teachers are really good there. I think they have a good art program.”

After, he returned home to begin his experimentation with his expression through painting at The Art Garage. By this time he was a big fan of New York City 70’s and 80’s artists, like Basquiat and Andy Warhol, who inspired him when creating his first exhibition at The Art Garage. Brian associates his style with these two artists the most, declaring Basquiat his favorite:

“He’s probably my favorite of all time. He just pumped out so much stuff in a short period of time. He started out with the graffiti. He did the word short poems, and then he moved into gallery stuff. He was just…he was like a mad scientist.”

He named the exhibition Big City Living where he displayed his work that had accumulated from 3 years in the studio. After this show it was time for him to move on to the next stage in his artistic career. Hibbard moved to Milwaukee where many opportunities awaited him. He told me about his shows in Bay View and Riverwest. 

“Me and my friend used to do live painting at bars. We had a friend, one bar owner, one night a week she would let us do live painting. Sometimes there was even live music to go along with it. It was called White Dog Black Cat.”

Brian spoke about his showings at the Cocoon Room when it first became a clothing shop here in Milwaukee. He also told me about Lu Lu’s Cafe, another space that he had exhibited in. 

“When I had my art work up at Lu Lu’s I sold like 7 or 8 pairings off the wall, shortly after I moved to Milwaukee. I thought oh wow. this is great. This is why I moved here.”

Hibbard has been very busy since he moved to Milwaukee and continues to be an active member of the art society here. After we spoke about all the places that he had exhibited we began to explore his work. He explained methods and compositions:

“Usually I start with no idea what so ever and then I spit out what is floating around in my brain, like whatever t.v shows I’m watching at the time, or whatever I’m doing, or whatever I last read about.”

We began to talk about individual pieces of works and one in particular really stuck out. Hibbard talked about how he grew up in a house full of male siblings and how self expression through art came to be his way of getting out what was on his mind at the time. His parents were fans.

“My parents always encouraged me to do art.” 

One painting in particular was the topic of discussion. There was a vomiting pig that he had painted using texture to emphasize the projection of the vomit by applying the pink paint very thickly where the vomit was first exiting the mouth. Hibbard saw this as a literal visualization of how he uses art as an outlet to express. Brian goes on to say:

“ That’s a literal translation of me getting my art out. Encouraging thoughts and emotions. It’s very therapeutic. it’s the best way I found to express my emotions. I’m not very food at verbalizing sometimes but I can get it out through my art work. It just feels good. I just like to do it.”

Before we got to his hopes and dreams for his art career we talked about what this artist liked to do for fun and where his favorite hang out spots in Milwaukee were. He listed off so many it was insane! Hibbard told me about the Carolina Jazz Club, Sugar Maple, Lu Lu’s Cafe, Seven Bridges trail, and Wendell’s Park. He also mentioned some of his favorite galleries like the Cocoon Room, the Hot Pot down at MIAD, the Intercontinental galleries, as well as the Pfister hotel residency. After telling me all this he added:

“ I’ve been getting into photography lately. I’ve done painting exhibitions, but I would like to do a photo photography exhibition some time.”

He then divulged his dream of being an interior design consultant. When I asked him what his dream project was he answered:

“Working with someone developing a new division who wanted art consultation for stylizing rooms or floors (office buildings).”

Lastly we talked about what was next on Brian Hibbard’s plate, in the near future. He told me about a show coming up, here in Milwaukee that focuses on artists who are often on the forefront of political issues, shining a light on certain aspects that newspapers don’t talk about. Hibbard talks about his two paintings in the show:

“ I have two paintings coming up in an show called Raise Your Voice in Jazz Gallery, in Riverwest. On April 22nd.”

He told me that his two paintings will be anti-war pieces and that one would be a drone painting.

“I think that’s something people don’t really talk about… We’re fighting wars with flying robots now. It’s like a video game. It’s bizarre.” 

Finishing off the interview I asked if he felt as if there was any hint of Milwaukee in his work. He grinned and replied:

“ Since I’ve moved to Milwaukee I’ve done at least one or two Milwaukee themed paintings with like a Pabst can, the Milwaukee art museum Calatrava…I’ve taken tons of Milwaukee photos!”

Finally he says:

“ I’m influenced by everything around me so it just happens(Milwaukee influence). I really like Milwaukee. They have MIAD, The Art Institute, UWM, a lot of colleges… if Milwaukee had the same weather as San Diego has, I’d be done looking.” 

You can check out Brian Hibbard’s work at his website hibbardart.com as well as in the upcoming show called Raise Your Voice, located at the Jazz gallery in Riverwest, on April 22nd.