Recent Works by TONY BROCK
“Gassers, Ghouls and Gals”
August 5 - 26
Opening Reception August 5 from 6-8pm during the Artrageous Tour

In the 42 years of Tony Brock's life, numerous factors influenced, or to quote the artist, “warped” his creativity. The hot rod/monster art of  Big Daddy Roth, Roach Studio t-shirt designs, Saturday morning cartoons, comic books, movies, Disco and cheesy synthesizer music from the 1980s are but a few of those influences. He has been drawing since he could walk, illustrating dune buggies and choppers on grocery sacks, filling up reams of notebook paper with  super-hero drawings and drawing cholo tattoos on classmates' arms for a quarter  during recess.

Brock's parents were always traveling from town to town and state to state, and as a result, he never lived in one location more than three months. Drawing became an escape from the tedium of the long road trips, and since he was always the “new kid in school,” his skill quickened the transition from the “new  kid” to “hey, that new kid can draw Spider-Man!”

Brock eventually settled in Tuscaloosa, where he finished high school, attended Shelton State Community College, got married and became a parent. His technique improved, and as a result of his passion for art, he then pursued a career in the field of graphic design. He was employed as an artist at The Tuscaloosa News and, for the last ten years, has been putting his experience to work at Randall-Reilly Publishing, managing a staff of art directors and designing numerous business-to-business trade magazines for print and web.

Brock has shifted his emphasis from drawing to painting in what little free time he has left, just for the pure joy and sometimes frustration of the process. He paints on canvas, plywood, masonite, light switches, cats and whatever else will hold paint. Acrylic is his medium of choice when he revisits the influences that were inspirational in the first place. In each of his paintings, one can see the pieces of popular culture from the 1970s and 80s: a little Roth here, a Kirby perspective there, topped with a dash of Blondie's “Heart of Glass.”

Tony Brock still feels like the “new kid” who is always being creative, and that is okay with him.