Nina Simone
Brandon Deener, 2023, Oil, pencil, oil pastel on paper
Deener’s background in music production and his love of jazz, with its spontaneity and immediate striving towards the whole, inform much of his work. Neither caricature nor traditional portrait, this likeness appropriates the great icon, as Deener cheekily manipulates Simone’s neck (the elongated neck being a recurring motif of his oeuvre). This move mirrors the reinterpretation and play inherent in the genre of music that unites both artist and subject. In easygoing pastels, Deener pays tender homage to the timeless musician.