
Opening this evening at Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle, John Brophy's solo show "The Saddest Heart on the Holy Mountain" features a new, surreal series of oil paintings on mounted paper that explore the continuity between European art history and the digital age. Though hand painted, Brophy's figures are based on 3D-modeling software and have a computerized look that stands in contrast to the many pre-internet art historical allusions in his work. One piece features a floating urinal as a shout out to Marcel Duchamp while another work includes a lollipop with an icon-like portrait of Jesus holding a credit card. Brophy's accumulations of discordant imagery alludes to the "anything goes" mentality of today's art world and posits science and capitalism as the religions of Western society today.