Introducing Lichtundfire's First Resident
July 30 - August 12, 2025
Open Studio: Saturday, August 9, 2 - 6pm
175 Rivington Street, New York, NY
Brett Despotovich is a multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto and Montreal, though his current two-week studio visit in New York City has placed his practice in a new environment. Born in 1982, his work spans drawing, sound, and video, often exploring the "liminal space between the physical and metaphysical." His artistic journey is a rich tapestry of experiences, from briefly studying at the Ontario College of Art and Design before leaving to work with the production of the Brion Gysin documentary ‘FLicKeR’, to curating exhibitions from his loft in Toronto’s 'Coffin Factory' and participating in The Arctic Circle Residency. This diverse history shows an artist who has always considered his work in a larger context, whether that's the social environment of a drawing event or the historical and scientific narratives he weaves into his pieces.
"Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context -- a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan."
— Eliel Saarinen (1873-1950)
Despotovich's drawings are never just a "thing" on their own; they are always considered in their "next larger context." This is most evident in his choice of materials, particularly his use of drawing on metallic mylar. This reflective surface is not merely a passive substrate; it actively incorporates its surroundings. The drawing, a static object, is immediately placed within the dynamic context of the room, the shifting light, and the presence of the viewer, whose reflection becomes an ephemeral part of the artwork. The "chair" of the drawing is always seen in the "room" of the physical space it occupies, creating a constant dialogue between the artwork and its environment.
"I've often had long stretches without a consistent studio space for my visual work, so I get to re-address my creative habits frequently. For better or for worse. If there's a single negative mindset that needs to be tempered it's the feeling of needing to acquire something new in order to achieve whatever is being aimed at completing. That applies to materials, tools, a studio space, and definitely location as well. Thankfully I'm able to work on music and photography when studio art isn't possible. Sound work has given me the best perspective overall, by way of the endless social media content around 'best microphone/best synth/best mixer/etc..' If you need to record, the best mic is always the one at hand. Anything that dulls your tools or slows your performance is a greater detriment to creation than not having something."
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This principle also extends to the conceptual underpinnings of his work. Despotovich draws from a wide array of sources; from Pythagorean scales to pulsar data; which are then filtered through a physical, performative act of drawing. The resulting image is not a literal representation but a distilled idea, a "house" that contains the "rooms" of science, history, and personal experience. His cross-disciplinary approach, encompassing sound and video, further exemplifies this. The visual structures and rhythms he explores in his drawings are undoubtedly informed by the aural and temporal compositions of his music, creating an interconnected "city plan" where each medium builds upon and informs the others.
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The "unforgiving" nature of metallic mylar, a material Despotovich has previously worked with, adds another layer to this idea of context. Any mark, scuff, or slip becomes a permanent feature, a historical record of the moment it was created. This emphasizes that the final drawing is not just the end result of a process, but a living artifact that embodies every step, every decision, and every interaction with its physical context; the artist's body, the tools, and the surface itself. By engaging with these themes, we can see that Despotovich’s practice is less about creating a singular object and more about building a complex system of relationships, where every element is intrinsically linked to its larger world.
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"The mirror mylar retains a faithful record of all marks made, by my hand or its mishandling. Fighting against it is usually the best way to obtain the worst results, so each incised line begins with landing the steel compass point with a sense of its destination in mind. The course of the line might stray or scar the plastic as it skates across, but that's character. When I start a new drawing I pay attention to how the point is scoring the plastic. I work on both the front and back of the sheet to build dimension, and each side responds differently. There's a feeling in getting the right angle and pressure that I can't really describe. The back is more forgiving, and light marks can be laid down without being too noticeable on the front of the finished piece."
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"Working in Lichtundfire brought the phrase ‘Writ in water’ to mind, and I was already thinking of what brought me to pursue art in the first place. When I was really young I found da Vinci’s drawings of water in an encyclopedia and was inspired by his use of drawing as a method of investigating the world around him. Much later I learned that his studies of vortices led to our better understanding of how blood flows through hearts. Obstacles create the backflow which allows a sympathetic process to function. My first use of mirror mylar came while recovering from a sudden and serious reaction to the solvents I was using in my former painting practice. It took a couple years, but some of the language I could no longer speak in painting found their way through an entirely different medium."