Brad Downey

There are multitudes of signals and systems that govern our cities and imperceptibly determine our everyday movement. Artist Brad Downey stakes a claim for the right of the individual to interpret and understand these systems, and thus regain power in the public arena.

As a public, we are acclimatized to these signs and beacons, and their subtle manipulation and proliferation can go undetected. Brad Downey, via his art, shines a light on this institutional regulation of public behavior. By wider awareness of these controls, his viewing public, he hopes, will gain greater understanding of his own urban and social situation.

Subtle, comic and very often provocative, Downey aims to surprise the viewer by illuminating how public and private property, and urban space and personal experience, overlap in an era of increasing privatization. He finds forgotten remnants of urban architecture to re-invent and rejuvenate. These are then re-inserted into the everyday landscape. The works are a temporary disruption, usually remaining in place for as short a time as a few minutes, but also sometimes becoming a permanent fixture in the landscape of the metropolis

Brad Downey is also a Kentucky Colonel . com