Brock Gratz Animesque: Reloaded

In the First Floor Studio Hallway

Animesque: Reloaded

Artist Statement

When I first had a solo exhibition at the Rotary Centre for the Arts 2 years ago, I was one year out of university. The opportunity to exhibit my work in a solo showcase after the double whammy of a canceled grad show and the pandemic was a really important moment- and here I am again!

Prior to exhibiting my art, I'd been told on a few occasions that the "Animesque" style was not one I'd be able to make a career out of. That really stuck with me, and it's why I picked that as the name for both the previous exhibition and this one. Over the last few years, the anime inspired art style has been really well received and I've taught over one hundred students who've been supremely excited to see someone doing that artstyle and able to teach them about it! It makes me very happy to be helping young people express themselves and learn a craft that will help them as an outlet.

Anime and manga (japanese comics from which anime is adapted) have incredible widespread reach and popularity across youth, teens and young adults. When I was a kid it was significantly more niche, and over time has become an international media juggernaut. It must be stressed that this is in huge part due to the variety of content on offer- a great mix of animated stories for younger audiences, adults and a broader all ages range. It must also be stated that while keeping a very recognizable style, anime is a combination of a massive diaspora of animated styles internationally, predominantly Japanese, French and North American. There were works from here that influenced early anime, and anime now informs the way some western programming is made, and so on it goes. There's a universality to the style because it embraces many elements from many other cultures and expressions.

If there's one thing I can spotlight that seems emblematic of anime's success, I think it would be the willingness to try ideas and concepts that are less conventional with studios. Couple that with a willingness to put some real genuine creativity into the hand drawn animated visuals, and it's very apparent why it's resonating with people. Proliferation of computer generated imagery and other digital assets have become part of most media, including some anime, but the focus and strongest point of the work is most often very fluid, highly detailed 2D animation. I'm very hopeful that someday we come back around to celebrating that kind of art more here.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by my exhibition and read this! As an emerging artist it means the world.

Artist Biography

Brock Gratz is an emerging artist and one of the founders of the long-running Kelowna Fan Experience convention. His work in Animesque: Reloaded is inspired by anime and manga and explores making art that appeals to the growing audience of fans of the medium while expressing personal thoughts. Also a local art instructor with over a decade experience, Brock has amassed a very large body of work through many online projects, video games, comics and animation. The core thinking of the work is to make projects people enjoy and celebrate the hobbies and interests that bring us together.