Brooklynite Gallery is proud to present our first exhibition of 2010 entitled, Stealth: Artists Above The Radar, featuring the works of Collin Van Der Sluijs and Derek Shumate. From February 13 to March 6th, we offer up our gallery walls as a soapbox for these two under-exposed artists from different ends of the world, both of who use their canvases much like mental filing cabinets to store information full of free expression and socio-political views. Follow us, if you will, on these two hypothetical journeys.

Imagine a blender that can be filled with ripe pieces of paper containing creative juices, leafy ideas and plump inspirations. Imagine that it can also be filled with lush subconscious thoughts, including healthy, fresh social and political views. Add in a sprinkling of vivid, circular planet-like shapes. But wait, this recipe doesn’t only contain ingredients that are good for you. Now, add in black smoke stacks, toxic chemicals and dust-covered landscapes. Top it off with disproportionately sized animal/human hybrids covered in oil-based liquids. Flip the “on” switch to this blender and watch as it mixes and intermingles these colorful thoughts, robust ideals and tart visions. Pop the top and pour directly on a canvas. …You’ve just recreated the work of Dutch “Pop-Fantasy Life” painter, Collin Van Der Sluijs.

Imagine if you will, a Houston-born, abstract artist by the name of Derek Shumate with multi-colored, circuitry wires running out from the back of his head. These wires immediately transfer a continuous flow of conscious thoughts from the portal to new mediums and surfaces for fear of losing spontaneity. Bold colors, upon layers and layers of torn bits of information, which often resemble a topographical map, are collected from various sources, including but not limited to, personal tragedies, today’s headlines and the artists’ imagination. These issues appear to be clouding, as they often do in life, the human existence as it relates to the environment. This obsessive-compulsive process produces work that is free from traditional morals or social constraints and like a young adolescent, expresses opinions full of honesty. That is—-to those that can decode the artist’s messages.