Brill Adium
by Rob Goldman
Brill Adium is making faces . In his art , the face says it all . In himself , the name says it all : Brill-iant . I like to pick apart names and see how they relate to people . I often think about the words that make up a name . His last name , Adium — not to be confused with odium — says something about who he is . The prefi x ad- means to , or toward , and -ium is a suffi x meaning “ derivative of .” Adium is made of forward movement , always headed toward his goals .
His art is crudely calculated . Its value comes from his preparation and his intention . There is a lot of life , emotion , experience , and especially pain fueling his work . The rather large-scale painting style means that the face he paints is sometimes the size of an average human torso . For the viewer , I believe he demonstrates a sense of introspection . When we look at ourselves in a mirror , almost always , we make eye contact with our refl ection . Adium translates that moment with his paintings .
His politics is people . Of course , as an artist , his message is pure , so his art is not inherently political . You might say his political party is humanity , because it doesn ’ t seem like he ’ s one to take sides . He feels misunderstood , and he ’ s on the side of the misunderstood . If you ask me , everyone is misunderstood . We can all relate to Adium ’ s work in some way . That ’ s part of why it ’ s so valuable . It ’ s not just a piece of art , it ’ s a piece of himself .
Adium is known by many as the owner of a company called Defi ned Enterprises . It is a gallery space in Altamonte Springs , and their goal is to provide a space for artists and creatives to pursue their imaginations . A recording studio and white room allow artists to record music and take videos and pictures , and the front gallery room has high ceilings and yellow walls with plenty of space for showing work . Defi ned Enterprises also has a video production team to assist their clients . According to their website , “ Brill Adium hopes to infl uence every artist with a bit of inspiration upon working on their project .”
I met Adium in his backyard garage-turned-studio , where he was working like a bee with two other local Orlando artists , Halsi and Diego Inkusual . It was a microcosm of eye candy , and I could feel the productive energy emanating from the garage door like a big steel oven . I can ’ t say the smell was too bad , either . My favorite piece in the room was probably a TV mounted inside a garbage can lid atop a garbage can painted all over with eyeballs . After Adium closed the squeakiest garage door in the world and turned off the industrial-strength fans , I whipped out my recording device and we got going .
Orlando ’ s Art Scene , v . 1.5
Rob Goldman : What is your first memory ? Brill Adium : [ Laughing ] First memory ... in regards to what ?
Just think as far back as you can . What comes to mind ? It is a random question , not all these questions are directly art related . ( Or are they ?) First memory … I think my fi rst memory is when I offi cially dropped out of high school .
Is Orlando your hometown ? No . I was born in Alabama , but I moved here around 10 th grade , so Orlando is practically my hometown .
What is special about Orlando to you ? When I was living in Alabama , it was either black or white [ people .] No Spanish people , Jamaican people , Mexicans — only either black or white . But when I came to Florida , there were all these people , and all these languages they could speak . detail from : Promise to Never , acrylic on wood There are people from everywhere ! One of the craziest things that I have noticed about Orlando is that a lot of people who are really trying to push for it are not the people originally from Orlando .
Who are you portraying in your art ? I use six faces in total . It is basically the six different emotions that we go through in life . We have all of these emotions , but for some people , one resonates more than all the others . You have wisdom , confusion , pain , ego , contentment , and the cover-up .
Do you want to go into any of those ? Which one stands out the most to you ? Everybody relates to one more than the other . The cover-up is smiling , but at the same time , the smile is crossed out , which indicates the smile of an adult . All of us , when we ’ re smiling , often we ’ re actually covering something up . Then you have the wise one . Not wise on just an earth level , but a spiritual level . Then there is the content one . He has no goals . He is not worried about tomorrow , he is not worried about yesterday , he is only worried about now . He wants everybody to understand the importance of living in the now .
Then there ’ s pain . This guy is full of pain — it is a refl ection of failed relationships — nothing has been perfect for this guy . He does not really understand love , because it was never given to him ; failed relationships , failed friendships , not the perfect relationship with family . Then there is the confused one . When I say he is confused , I do not mean in the
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