And Then...You Just Smile

About the Work

From the Artist

As an artist, new information and experiences are vital to my work. The shifting and selection of those bits and pieces of information that are most useful sparks and light into my creative processes. My need to know compels further exploration in the search for new ways of making images. The result of this pursuit is development and growth. Currently, my work continues to investigate the basic elements of line, point, plane, color and shape. My interest has shifted from the product to the process. A more descriptive discovery of choice is intrinsic to the process of making images. Though the concreteness of the final product is rewarding, the process—the yield of each option selected—is more powerfully satisfying. 
_{—From Brandywine Workshop and Archives records}

The title of this print, And Then... You Just Smile, sounds like the refrain of an old song. Can you see how the artist Moe Brooker moved his hand in one direction and then another? It seems as if he drew this work quickly, freely, and with vigor, imbuing it with an air of spontaneity and freshness. First impressions aside, this abstract image is structured the way great jazz compositions and improvisations are controlled, but also free.

The thin lines zipping across the center foreground, all straight except for the blue one bouncing through the air with rhythm and exuberance. The layering of colors, various lines, and forms seems to describe the interrelation of sounds and notes coming from different instruments as they are played together.
_{—From Brandywine Workshop and Archives records}

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