Art Is Not a Crime by Brendan North
- julia_mji@me.com
- Sep 15
- 2 min read
Art Is Not a Crime by Brendan North
"Art is Not a Crime" showcases a collection of images that speak in a voice of mischief, non-compliance, and resistance to control. These works reject censorship, embrace defiance, and affirm the artist’s right to create unapologetically. The pieces vary in tone and message, ranging from playful to provocative, but the ethos remains consistent: art must remain uncaged. Brendan believes art should never be silenced or sanitized to make it more palatable. Some scenes are lighthearted, fashion-fueled fantasies, while others offer sharp critiques of consumer culture, political control, or societal expectations. What unites them is their unwillingness to conform.
For Brendan, art is not simply an aesthetic practice. It is a form of rebellion, a mirror to power, and a declaration of personal and collective freedom. In times of political unrest and cultural tension, he believes artists are essential interpreters of truth. They are tasked with saying what others will not and transforming the events of their time into something visceral, lasting, and human. Through this body of work, Brendan reasserts a foundational belief: that honest, unflinching art is not only valid, it is vital.
Whether capturing bold, surreal scenes or intimate portraits, Brendan’s images invite viewers to question what lies beneath the surface. He has developed a distinct style that merges cinematic flair with conceptual depth, making him a rising voice in contemporary portraiture and narrative art.
Window Shopping, 2023
"My piece titled “Window Shopping” was born from bad luck and a little creativity. One night, I parked my car on a street in Downtown Los Angeles. A few hours later, I returned to discover my window had been smashed and a backpack had been stolen. Having your property broken into is truly a violating experience. But rather than get upset about it, within that shattered window, I saw an opportunity for a piece of art. This is my attempt at finding beauty in the broken and creation in destruction."
Beautiful Lies, 2024
"I’ve been using virtual reality headsets in my work to explore our obsession with the digital world for over 5 years now. This image evokes a not-so-distant future where we’ve chosen to spend more of our time locked into our headsets than we do in the physical world. This future is both inevitable and terrifying. The digital lives we lead inside these headsets may be beautiful, but they are still lies."
Brendan North is a Los Angeles-based fine art photographer and visual storyteller with roots in Boston. Having studied International Development and Environmental Science at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Brendan brings that foundation into his conceptual work. His photography explores the duality of beauty and decay, glamour and grit, illusion and reality, often blending striking visuals with sharp social commentary.
View Brendan North's work on ARTSY
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*** All images are property of the Artist and JM Art Management
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