Kelsey Brookes x Beautiful Losers, New Psychedelia, 2024

Kelsey Brookes x Beautiful Losers, New Psychedelia, 2024

Beautiful Losers is pleased to present our new collection, New Psychedelia - a set of limited edition skateboards with acclaimed artist Kelsey Brookes. This collection is released on the occasion of his exhibition "Gradient Paintings", currently on view through October 19 at Quint Gallery in La Jolla.

This collection is one run only and will not be made again. The order window opens October 1 and closes October 21.

The collection features Brooke’s signature and intricately detailed psychedelic paintings. Each skateboard is fully hand dipped in a base coat of lacquer, giving a sculptural quality to each piece. The collection is available individually and as a set.

Kelsey Brookes x Beautiful Losers
New Psychedelia, 2024
Lacquer and printed graphics on skateboards (3)
Limited edition (one run only)

Exhibitions:
Gradient Paintings, 2024


Kelsey Brookes is a former scientist who uses his background in biological and empirical methodology to develop his studio practice. In his practice, Brookes adopts ideas found in logic and natural systems, such as molecular and atomic structures or number sequences, to build compositions that blur boundaries between the analytic and the creative. This approach drives the foundation of lively and colorful work that is both meticulously crafted and conceptually rigorous. His intricate paintings and sculptures find a unique balance within the juxtaposition of subjectivity and objectivity, as well as theory and aesthetic. Brookes dives into the discoveries of physicians, mathematicians, and chemists as only a scientist is capable, and, through the use of color and form, expresses this knowledge to the world in an abstract and luminous manner as only an artist is capable. Embodying an experimental nature that is mutual of science and art, Brookes is constantly growing his practice, whether it be through the exploration of unfamiliar media, or the employment of a new technique to further his study and anomalous presentation of biochemical substances.

Brookes has had solo exhibitions in La Jolla, Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, London and Berlin. His work was featured as the cover art for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “I’m With You Sessions” (2013) records and The Flaming Lips’ “The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down... What a Sound” LP (2013). His work belongs in esteemed private collections, as well as the public permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, among others.


Artist Statement:
My history with psychedelic molecules.

I have had an interest in psychedelics since my first introduction to
them in 1996. A friend gave me “magic” mushrooms at a party my senior
year of high school and my mind was totally blown. I came out of that
novel and wildly unique experience completely confused by the fact that
I had never heard about psychedelics before. This was the most
interesting mental state I have ever accessed and yet everyone was just
going on about their lives not talking about it. It was like a portal to
another dimension easily accessible and yet hidden. I didn’t understand
why everyone wasn’t talking about this experience all of the time.
Already interested in science, I pursued the subject from the scientific
perspective with a good dose of Tim Leary and Terence McKenna thrown in.

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