Brian Despain Art

2007
  • The Stranger
  • Self Portrait
  • The Final Exodus
  • The Bartlett Regicide
  • The Exchange
  • A Vexing Quiet
  • The Discovery
  • The Dream

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The Exchange

Oil on wood
20" x 16"

I've always been fascinated by hummingbirds. Not only with the way they can zip around, stop on a dime and hover there perfectly motionless, (motionless besides their frantically beating wings of course.) but also with their supreme cockiness, their aggressive attitude towards, well, everything, and the fact that they're about as crazy as a shit-house rat. They kind of remind me of this guy I used to work with. You could be talking about the most offensive, controversial subject known to man and he'd be perfectly fine, but then switch to some seemingly innocuous subject, like Twinkies or how I hate the water pressure in my shower and he'll go off on you like you've suggested something carnal involving his mother and a bushel of pears.

So I guess this is my tribute to one individual's innocent attempt at reaching out to another, to exchange thoughts, ideas, or even just connect on a deeper level, only to have the whole thing blow up in some spectacular fashion. That and crazy people birds.