Change is the only constant in life (Heraclitus) and the same can be said of Bryan Ida’s studio practice. Ida’s oeuvre is a constantly evolving exploration of form and color and medium. Over the decades, Ida has pushed himself to experiment with ink, paint, pencil, pen, resin, wax, paper, canvas, and panel. The works are unified in their amalgamation of forms and concepts – of the unifying and joining of the disparate to tell a story.
Bryan Ida’s work is a visually stunning tour de force incorporating elegant patterns, delicate marking-making overlaying intricate under-structures, and ranging from subtle nuanced colors to intense jewel-tones. Uniting the different bodies of work is a desire to capture a moment – sometimes it is the experience of a place, sometimes of a thought, sometimes an emotion.
Ida explores the complicated relationships that are human existence and what it means to live in the world. He is visually exploring concepts such as time and memory, the experience of physical spaces, and the deeply fracturing social/political/environmental issues that exist in society. The paintings embody wonder and beauty and yet their messages are nuanced and complicated. There is a depth to the work physically in Ida’s layering process that reflects the multi-faceted depth of the human experience.
Bryan Ida (b. California) studied music composition at Sonoma State University and San Jose State University. In 1988, Ida was hired as a studio assistant to the noted abstract expressionist painter Sam Francis. Ida moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles and was part of Francis’ studio team until Francis’ death in 1994. Working side by side with Francis changed the trajectory of Ida’s career and life. Through his work with Francis, Ida moved from music composition to painting and has shown throughout the US as well as in Japan, Korea, Italy, and Taiwan. His work has been published in Artillery, Artweek, Fabrik, Artscene, LA Weekly, and Art Ltd among others. Ida was part of exhibition, The Circle of Sam Francis (2023), and the subject of Bryan Ida: Life of Change, A Retrospective (2023-24) at the Bakersfield Museum of Art. Bryan Ida lives and works in Los Angeles.