American artist Brian Despain has a new show on at  Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle, Washington.  “Despain works with imaginary yet recognizable modern landscapes, but populates his world with seemingly self aware and melancholy robots. His work blends the natural world with technology with a slightly morbid slant. Skulls, machinery, and birds provide the forefront for a seemingly arcane number system the artist employs in all his work. His rich and luminous color palettes of post apocalyptic ochres, deep blues, and steel greys belie and hidden warmth and dark humor within his work.”

“Tin Machines and Mercuric Dreams” runs through March 5th, 2011.  Visit Roq La Rue Gallery for more information. To see more of Brian Despain’s work, visit DespainArt.com.

Interested in art from childhood, Brian Despain has a BFA from eastern Michigan University and has worked as a graphic designer, 3D modeler, photo-retoucher, illustrator, and concept artist for the video game industry.

Despain’s paintings combine elements from the natural world with technology creating a post apocalyptic feel. His penchant for robots (100 Robots series) has a purpose as well: “I strive to create images that appeal a viewer to take part in the artistic process. I do this by creating images that hit a broad chord rather than a single note. Using familiar, global emotional situations, things like love, loss, discovery, and fear, I give the viewer a broad direction to head, but let them discover the specific path. The robots allow the viewer to more easily step into this role. If I were to put “real” people in the same situations I think the reaction to my images would be vastly different. “

Despain will be exhibiting at Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle in November 2009. For more information about Brian Despain, visit DespainArt.com.  There is also a great interview on Arrested Motion Blog.