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Artist Statement:
The other night, I had a
dream, a most unusual dream.
It was more of an allegory
than a dream. In this dream I
was with my son, at some sort
of vacation estate. We were
outside, when suddenly a cow
appeared. Nothing threatening,
just a cow, but curious, like
...
Further Information
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Artist Exhibitions:
Selected Exhibitions
2007 Featured Artist
Brooklyn Fine Arts Magazine
2007 Reader Art-Juxtapoz
Magazine
2006 Secret Stories-Solo
exhibition of new works
2005 A Gathering of
Friends • Gallery 64,
Brooklyn, NY
2004 Sepia & Bronze •
Recent Drawings at Rongio
Gallery • Brooklyn, NY
Group Show “ArtSplash 2004” •
Rockaway Artists Alliance •
Fort Tilden, ...
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Reviews:
Bruce Zeines has the uniquely
combined talent of connecting
the images of the subconscious
with his profound dedication
to line. He possesses a
technical virtuosity that
leaves one feeling they are
viewing the work of an old
world master. It is a
compelling and lasting
experience.” —Irene Gennaro,
Sculptor
"With ...
Further Information
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Collections:
Ms. Winsome Spence, London,
England
Brad Michael Moore, Perrin, TX
Marc Rosenblatt, Brooklyn, NY
Ron Egozi, Brooklyn, NY
Dr. Casmir and Truyen Swinger,
New York, NY
Ms Anabelle Meachem,
Senatobia, Mississippi
Mr Glen Martin, Brooklyn, New
York
Mr Denny Marselle, Brooklyn
New York
Ms Linda Wheeler, Brooklyn,
New York
Mr ...
Further Information
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Bruce Zeines Biography:
| Biographical information for Bruce Zeines can be found below. The artist may choose what information to display. Sometimes the artist chooses not to display personal information to the general public. |
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Age
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52
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| Gender |
Male
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| Status |
Married
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| Children |
3
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| Religion |
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| Education |
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| Hobbies / Interests |
Fingerstyle Guitar |
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| Favorite Artistic Medium |
Drawing Pen
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| Favorite Arthistory Movement |
Flemish School - (1600 - 1800)
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| Favorite Visual Artist |
Hieronymous Bosch, R Crumb, M Ernst
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| Favorite Work of Art |
Garden of Earthly Delights
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| Biggest Artistic Inspiration |
My Brother Ed Zeines 1947-1997
Burt Hasen !921- |
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| Why Did You Become An Artist |
There was no choice. It took me and never let go.
Destiny. |
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| Your Personal Biography |
Bruce Zeines: A Surrealist Rooted in Reality
Describing how he creates his dense, cross-hatched, surreal pen and ink drawings, Brooklyn-born artist Bruce Zeines explains: “I start with a blank piece of paper; set off a limited area and begin to make pen strokes. I don’t preconceive these images. They emerge out of my subconscious. I let them lead me, with no holds barred so that any image can, and does emerge. The result is a mystery, not only for the viewer, but also for me.” Years of experimenting with automatic drawing, a technique made famous by such surrealists as Max Ernst and Andre Mason, have taught Bruce that his role as an artist is to be the “vehicle” through which the work takes shape. “Life has dealt me a set of circumstances and experiences, which have taught me something deep. This evolving spiritual quality has affected my art profoundly and is reflected in my current work.”
In his 2006 solo exhibit “Secret Stories,” the public recently had a chance to view these drawings at Gallery 64 in Park Slope. “They represent my strongest work to-date,” says Bruce, adding, “they are the culmination of the intersection of my experience, my inner work and my age (51).” Bruce is alluding in particular to the 1997 death from Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) of his older brother, Ed Zeines, a sculptor and Fulbright scholar, and Bruce’s seminal and most lasting artistic influence. This was a life-altering experience for him.
“My brother was eight years older than me. As a child, I was intrigued with his drawings of space ships and his amazing comic book collection.” These formative experiences were so compelling that at the tender age of nine, Bruce decided he wanted to be an artist, a decision he has never veered from. His brother’s tragic and untimely death also liberated the adult artist by allowing Bruce to go even deeper into the dark underbelly of life. At the same time, his inner work and spirituality have enabled him to introduce a new element to his drawings that he calls “the light that lies behind the chaos.” We can see this exemplified in works like “Lot in the Sodom Marketplace” which depicts a mixture of pain, anguish, anger, craziness, chaos, quietness and peace. “When I was working on “Lot…” he says, “I inevitably reached the point, when I have to fight the urge to give up. It is only when I get past this point that the drawing takes form. I have learned not to get in the way of the process.”
The color drawings which were on display at “Secret Stories” were done from 2005 to mid-2006. Each one took over a month to complete.
Whatever the outward format, he will continue to explore and express his buried life in ways that will continue to engage and tantalize the viewer. Irene Gennaro, a sculptor who also works from the subconconscious enthuses: “ The dedication, the imagination that goes into Bruce’s work is really remarkable. His work reminds me of the Old World masters who worked representationally. But Bruce is working from the subconscious and there’s so much going on in his pen and paper drawings. The viewer can sit and look and study these images for hours. He creates a marvelous world to explore. The viewer is constantly rewarded. I see pain. I see joy. I see searching. I see transcendence and I also see evidence of a great deal of thinking and pondering the great questions. Bruce is that rare artist who allows himself to be vulnerable. He’s not afraid to expose all of these emotions. Bruce is an artist of depth.”
But Zeines wasn’t always a dark surrealist. He was greatly influence by the animated cartoons of the 30’s and 40’s. Especially the Fleischer Brothers. As a teenager in the 70s, his encounter with hallucinogenics were an experience in his inner growth. “This is when my art really exploded.“ His art idol as a teenager was Robert Crumb, one of the founders of the underground commix movement.
As a student at the School of Visual arts in 1974, Bruce was exposed to the work of Hieronymus Bosch. “Bosch was a great discovery, and changed me from a cartoonist to an artist with serious intent. Not that cartoonists are not serious, but Bosch’s work moved me in another direction. I still love to look at his work.” In fact, Bruce’s ink cross-hatchings are often compared to Bosch’s sixteenth century triptychs with their nightmarish figures and iconography that seem to float off the canvas.
“I never get tired of looking at the work of the old masters. When people look at my current work, especially the large color drawings, they compare me to William Blake. I never actually considered him a main influence, but I have always loved his work, and I am flattered by the comparison. Blake may have been one of the sanest artists in recent memory. His life was not eccentric, unlike the lives of many other known artists.”
Certainly, Bruce shares Blake’s mystical spirituality and his celebration of the suprarational over realism. And like Blake, Bruce sees the world reflected in a grain of sand. “While my drawings are brought forth from personal experience, they are also universal — both mundane and profane. I have always been fascinated by fairy tales, myths and folk tales from many cultures.”
For Bruce, the purpose of art is to call us to something higher, something that is more evolved. He worries that there are too many distractions in contemporary society. “Art has come to be considered an insignificant indulgence or something for decoration. But at its core, art should be something that calls us to awaken to our higher selves and that inspires us to manifest qualities that are not only beneficial for an individual, but for the entire planet.”
Among other things, along the way Bruce has been an illustrator, a graphic designer and a musician (he still plays and composes for the guitar). His illustrations have appeared in The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Performing Arts Journal and Carnet Magazine in Milan. As a graphic designer, he has created corporate identity and collateral for corporate and consumer clients for over 25 years. In 1991, his comic strip, The Stranger, ran for two years in Free Spirit Magazine and Snicker, a comic tabloid.
During the 90’s, Bruce established himself as a Photoshop pro, exhibiting his digital collages and garnering national and international acknowledgement in Russia, Cuba and Australia. But the continuing need to express himself with pen eventually drew him back to the drawing board. “The computer is an excellent tool for visualizing and actualizing, but does not match the sensitivity required for pen or brush.” Bruce says, unlike his ink drawings, his digital collages were informed by social commentary; they didn’t germinate in his subconscious.
While his art may be surreal, Bruce, himself is firmly planted in the real world. He and his Jamaican-born wife, Sheryll and son Noah, live in Ditmas Park. “My wife and I have been very involved with the Brooklyn art scene since we got together.” After 9/11, their shared world began to rearrange itself. Their son, Noah, was born in 2000, prompting the couple to look for art-related work that would help them get more involved in the community and also help support the family financially. Sheryll had owned a Soho gallery in the past, as well as having a strong marketing background. So with Bruce’s design skills, they were able to put together a consulting business. “We met with many artists and galleries, from around Brooklyn as well as many other places, and developed new relationships, many of which still survive. This led us to managing shows for other artists. We helped manage the Rongio Gallery located in a suite across from the Brooklyn Museum and later we took on the management of Gallery 64 in Park Slope. “On the up side, it has given me an understanding of how the business is done.”
These experiences helped Bruce become a more integral part of the Brooklyn art world. Brooklyn is a wonderful environment for artists right now, he says, because among other things, it enjoys the highest concentration of artists on the globe. Also, Brooklyn may be one of the most diverse areas in the country. We have always sought to engage with this diversity. “We are living in the dawn of the global economy, and our issues are becoming more and more common,” he says.
Part of Zeines’ integration into the fibre of his Flatbush neighborhood has been accomplished through community building activities (he is a long-time member of the Park Slope Food Coop). He and his wife are founding parents of New York City’s only democratic educational venue, the Brooklyn Free School, which his son attends. Brooklyn’s fluidity and diversity is appealing, he explains “ its diverse population has produced a rich art world that traverses the lines of race, creed and color.” This suits him fine, since he sees his drawings as intended to be expressions of a universal experience.
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