Brett Angell

Brett Angell is a Boston area-based artist who has lived on the East Coast for the last fifteen years.  He received his MFA in Painting from the University of Wisconsin where he was able to study with the noted landscape painter Tom Uttech.  Uttech’s moody settings, sly humor and exquisite composition are continued inspirations in Angell’s current series of collage works.

Living both in Massachusetts as well as being so close to the water in Chelsea inspires my current work. While mermaids and sailing ships are generally thought of as old subjects I am giving them new life in a contemporary format. I have enjoyed creating this new world in which mermaids interact with man in a variety of settings including reworked masterpieces such as Vermeer’s interiors. My goal is to make the viewer stop, look and consider what is remembered versus what is real. The inhabitants in my collages are cinematic, sorrowful, elegant, humorous and ferocious. Could mermaids be real? Why not? -Brett Angell

Angell’s work is in the collections of the Sioux City Art Center and the Springfield Art Museum as well as many private collections and most notably in the collections of many artists.  Angell has worked in art museums for his entire adult life and this special access to museum collections has influenced his body of work.

While he started his career focusing on painting, Angell has dedicated the past few years to developing and innovating his approach to collage work.  Angell’s nautical cigar box collages and witty cigarette box collages are manifestations of his observations of human nature and relationships.