NADA Miami 2021

Brian Kokoska's new series of oil paintings are intimate and soulful. The characters in Kokoska’s work romanticize friends, lovers, acquaintances and fictional entities. Animals, and children showing both hope and fear in their eyes, are presented in blurred painterly atmospheres. An eternal optimism is alluded to, but in the most mischievous context. Fragments of his childhood in Canada are also uniquely represented through moments of folklore and symbolism. These attributes all contrast and allure moments of queer theory and punk sensibilities Kokoska is more notably known for.