Exhibition

Problem Child
Kelsey Brookes
August 8, 2026 – October 10, 2026

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Louis Buhl & Co. is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new works by San Diego-based artist Kelsey Brookes, opening August 8, 2026. Rooted in a background in microbiology and a sustained fascination with the human psyche, Brookes’ practice melds meditative optics with molecular interrogation. 

The exhibition debuts a series of text-based paintings that are conceptually tethered to Brookes’ ongoing exploration of perception and awareness. With these works, the artist eliminates the use of the primary materials he typically relies on (paint and brushes), but retains the canvas, elevating it from a supporting object to the primary subject. In order to achieve the compositions, Brookes employs a highly tactile method that involves draping wet canvas onto hand-sculpted clay letterforms; once dry and stretched, the surface reveals an illusion of three-dimensional volume. In this inquiry toward language and the physical behavior of the medium itself, Brookes examines how form can be extracted from an object with limited material intervention. 

Complementing the text works is a selection of large-scale tondo paintings that showcase Brookes' signature style characterized by color and intricate linework, as well as a group of free-standing sculptures that translate the abstract molecular diagrams to tangible, three-dimensional objects. By pairing these physical models with the linguistic clarity of the text pieces and the hypnotic precision of the tondos, Brookes builds a multi-dimensional dialogue that charts how consciousness is experienced, spoken about, and chemically constructed.

Throughout the exhibition, Brookes continues to dissolve the false binary between artistic intuition and scientific thought. By focusing on the structural capabilities of canvas rather than the additive quality of paint, the new works function as a literal unfolding of the artist's process. What results is an outcome that demands a slower, highly mindful approach to looking, challenging the viewer's visual processing and reminding us that perception is an active, provisional construct.

Kelsey Brookes: Problem Child is on view from August 8 through October 10, 2026 at Louis Buhl & Co.