Brian from Graft

BRIAN DE GRAFT (Germany, 1988).
Untitled, 2021.
Acrylic on paper.
Signed and dated in pencil in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 65.5 x 49.5 cm; 74.5 x 57.5 cm (frame).
Yellow plays a particularly important role in his career. His famous Add Yellow project, launched in the mid-2010s, made this color one of his hallmarks. In this composition, a field of yellow serves as the backdrop for a cluster of white flowers, rendered in deliberately simple, gestural forms. The color combination creates an immediate contrast between the warm yellow of the background and the purity of the white, resulting in an image of great luminosity and an optimistic spirit.
Brian de Graft, known artistically as B.D. Graft, is a German visual artist born in 1988 and based in Amsterdam. After studying Film and English Literature at the University of Amsterdam, he began to develop his artistic practice as a self-taught artist, initially as a form of personal experimentation, until he began working professionally as an artist in 2016. His work is characterized by a simple, immediate, and deeply recognizable visual language, in which drawings, paintings, collages, and ceramics explore themes such as nature, happiness, everyday life, and the human relationship with the environment. Behind the apparent spontaneity of her compositions lies a reflection on what the artist calls “the deceptively decorative”: images that captivate with their beauty and simplicity but contain more complex meanings. B.D. Graft is also reflected in the presence of his work in prominent private and institutional collections, including the Niarchos Collection, the collection of Rania of Jordan, the Sarah Andelman Collection, and the Powerlong Museum in China, as well as in the collection of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).