Within weeks of launching her new fine art collection Bad Romance at the Mondrian LA, Welcome to the Brightside artist Katie Brightside gets snapped up by two galleries!
The Bad Romance, Pretty Toxic Thing, art exhibition previewed at the Magic Box in the Mondrian West Hollywood, June 2022. It was inspired by the song of the same name. Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance entwines the over-arching lyrical meaning and fairytale to create a new world of highly imaginative mural scale artworks. The artwork explores pretty things that are toxic.
The collection, which redefines wallpaper, includes an 84-artwork series, Oracle card and Color-in Book set, and an Instagramable hand-painted mural on the Skybar entrance wall, in collaboration with Artlounge Collective and paints sponsored by Dunn Edwards.
Artlounge Collective was the first to sign Welcome to the Brightside to their growing management firm, led by artist and entrepreneur K. Ryan Henisey @artloungecollective.
“You can feel the magic behind Katie’s work,” says Henisey. “She has created a delicate and unique world that encourages you to explore all of its depths. Each illustration touches upon the next, creating windows into a fully developed view of the beautiful and dangerous.”
The artist’s layered compositions incorporate a fine art application of design and wallpaper, reimagining pretty things that are also toxic. Mushrooms, angel’s trumpets, handcuffs, and skulls combine with other flora and fauna to present a vibrant display in bold colors on metallic papers.
“Bad Romance is a portal to the world of imagination,” explains Brightside. “Each pretty, toxic thing is a beautiful microcosm to itself, rich with symbolism. The artwork, mural, oracle cards, and color-in book are meant to inspire. They encourage others to look beyond the reality.”
Brightside has a narrowed focus on illustrating the re-telling of fables and moralistic stories. The exhibition at the Magic Box was an opportunity to explain the meaning behind the symbolism and metaphors in the artwork. She proceeded to approach this by creating an Oracle Card Deck and Color-in Instruction Guide Set that worked hand-in-hand with the artwork in the show.
All artworks from Bad Romance are available through Artlounge Collective, which now displays artwork in multiple LA-area venues that include a brand new La Brea/Beverly location, Mondrian Los Angeles, and The Artist Tree.
Horizon, 2021. © Jeff Mclane
Another example of the symbolism in Brightside’s work is the 2021 commission by Lauren Miller’s Modern Art Services (MAS) to create original artworks for the skylights in the state-of-the-art MRI rooms at the new City of Hope, Orange County Cancer Center.
Brightside created a radical imaginative project that calms and distracts the patient from their reality. A reality with many possibilities that can cause anxiety. The intention was for the patient to occupy their thoughts for a second by focusing on the dreamscapes, therefore making the time pass a little more pleasantly.
Serenity, 2021. © Jeff Mclane
“It was such a pleasure to collaborate with Katie on the skylights for the City of Hope. The artworks were designed with the patient in mind and feature soft watercolored visuals of flowers, butterflies, koi fish, and hummingbirds to give a sense of visual movement while also offering a beautiful distraction to help patients relax during treatment.” States Lauren Miller (MAS).
Reyne Hirsch, a veteran collector with an eye for up-and-coming artists, discovered Brightside and snapped her up in July for Dallas’ Patrick Jones Gallery. The gallery represents Welcome to the Brightside’s mural scale artwork series, The Digs Collection.
In late 2019 Brightside develop a more accessible business model – The Digs Collection, with Welcome to the Brightside creative agency, private commissions now starting at $10,000. The Digs Collection is a publicly available diffusion line to private commissions with wallcovering murals starting at $950 a panel.
The objective was to create a series of ready-made murals and large-scale artwork that redefine wallpaper.
The Digs Collection has appropriated the original motto, ’home is where your toothbrush is,’ which reminds us that ‘home’ is an ever-changing concept. The Digs Collection, therefore, reflects this metamorphic concept as a tangible artwork in your home, or personal sanctuary, for you to wake each day as a new butterfly and to begin another day of transformation. The philosophy is to evoke a home with aspirations, either of who you are or who you want to become. It’s more than just artwork; it’s a moral to live by.
It’s been an incredible first half of 2022 with more exciting things to look out for. In particular, the announcement that in early 2023, Brightside is set to collaborate with the Hyatt interior team on the remodel of the infamous Andaz Hotel, Sunset Strip. Brightside intends to bring her full creative force with a site-specific concept as a feature wall in 239 rooms. This incredible commission was secured by Brightside in early 2022 with a sample room mural which inspired a full hotel to remodel.
Brightside is a California resident and recent recipient of a 2022 City of West Hollywood Public Arts Grant and 2021 Women in Leadership Award. To follow Brightside’s creative life and adventures, follow @welcometothebrightside on Instagram.
