BRYAN IDA
MODULATION: A 30 Year Survey
1
Wise Man, 2008
mixed media on panel
33.5x31.5 in. framed
$6,200
Seed 2007-2011
This series takes its genesis from the concept of a seed as representing rebirth. I wanted to start over from nothing - developing new gestures and techniques as opposed to refining the style of any previous work. I felt restricted and compressed by the series I had been working on for the two years prior and wanted to get back to gesture and free flowing images.
2
The Shore, 2015
mixed media
41x48 in.
SOLD
Cities 2012-2016
In my latest series I have been exploring the idea of memory and it’s relationship to our feeling of place. We have strong emotional memories tied to certain locations as well as small recollections based on glimpses of areas we have passed by. Our memory is a reduction and refinement of our experience and I try to collect and assemble this assortment of thoughts and impressions and further distill them to their essence and lay down the elements in paint.
3
Bowl , 2001
mixed media
29.5x25.5 in. framed
$4,600
Cold Wax series 2001-2003
In 2001 I started experimenting with cold wax medium by mixing it into oil paint, allowing it to partially cure then carving into the painting. I would then load the scars with paint and sand it back even with the surface. This would produce very fine lines with many imperfections where the surface cracked as I scratched into it.
4
Genesis Travel, 2001
mixed media
25.5x21.5 in. framed
$4,000
Please see Cold Wax series 2001-2003
5
Temperance, 2002
mixed media
37x25 in. framed
$6,000
Please see Cold Wax series 2001-2003
6
D1 06, 1996
acrylic on paper
48.5x34 in. framed
$4,200
7
On the Eve of My Destruction, 2003
acrylic on panel
49.5x61.5 in. framed
$10,800
Cold Wax City series 2003-2004
I continued using cold wax medium as I began to develop a theme based on cities and their forms. I was intrigued by the everyday and the interactions of color and form that occur in the hustle and bustle of a crowded city and I explored the juxtaposition of disparate images in a single composition. I would explore the city as theme for the next decade in many various forms and techniques.
8
Highland Park, 2015
mixed media on panel
48x40 in.
$8,800
Please see Cities 2012-2016
9
A Preference to be Entitled, 2005
mixed media
73x46 in. framed
$11,800
City or Nature; Longing and Need Series 2004-2007
I cut apart landscapes of trees and nature and place them one on top of each other, breaking their continuity, while bending and merging what remains. This series contrasts the angular cityscapes with the curves of natural river rocks.
10
Swell, 2025
acrylic on panel
30x40 in.
$7,000
Water Series 2019 to Present
I am inspired by my time spent fishing off the coast of Mexico and California. I have fished oceans, lakes, and waterways and created images that are inspired by these spaces. Water reveals its gifts to me with grace and dignity yet with unforgiving force. It is an awe-inspiring phenomenon of great beauty and power.
11
Momentum, 2025
acrylic on panel
40x30 in.
$7,000
Please see Water Series 2019 to Present
12
Shimmer, 2021
acrylic on panel
48x24 in.
$7,000
Environment Series 2018 to Present
In this series I examine mankind’s endless need for energy and expansion in the name of human advancement. The juxtaposition of the two worlds reveals the struggle we face today with the future of our planet dependent on our ability to balance the increasing demand for resources and the needs of the natural world.
13
Untitled (Blue), 1996
oil on paper
25x25.25 in. framed
$3,200
Blue Series 1997
Sometime in 96-97 while working in oils I reduced my palette to just blues. I didn’t feel like I had the connection and ease with blue pigments that I had with red and yellow. I remember understanding the subtleties between red and yellow pigments and the varying shades, tones and tints of the pigments, but I didn’t feel the same with the blue hues. I decided to limit my palette to blue. I was still derivative of Sam’s free, broad stroke style, but I was working to try and get more intent with the brush while turning a weakness into a strength.
14
Untitled, 1995
acrylic on canvas
48x36 in.
$8,400
Early Work 1993-1995
Coming from a musical background where one learns by intense practice, repetition and accumulated knowledge. I applied this method of learning to my new medium. With no formal training and an intense desire to learn, I painted something new every day. I would examine what I did the prior day, contemplate the lesson, and finish something for the new day. I felt comfortable with the creativity, but the challenge was to figure out how to express that creativity into something deeper using the eyes instead of the ears.
I continued working in acrylic figuring out flow, bleed and viscosity. I used visual elements and gestures from movements of the past to feel with my own hands how gestures are laid down in paint.
15
Kimiko Kitagaki, 2024
ink on panel
37x30 in. framed
$8,200
con.Text series 2017 to Present
con.Text is a portrait series I began in 2016, where text is used to render figures in black ink on white gessoed panel. Drawn from historical documents, the texts link each subject through their personal or familial ties to political events and government policies that have deeply impacted their lives. In so doing, the work transforms words of oppression into a visual language of resilience and empowerment, embodied in the defiant stances and expressions of the subjects. Each portrait conveys a sense of commonality and community shared within the narratives of ordinary peoples’ lives and offers a unique passageway to learn from history and apply the lessons of the past to solve today’s issues.
A portrait based on a photograph taken by Dorothy Lange of Kimiko Kitagaki as she waited with her family to board a bus that would take them to Tanforan Assembly Center, a converted horse stable, and eventually to more permanent housing in an internment camp in the inhospitable inland and away from the coast.
The words used to make the marks that compose this portrait are the text from Executive Order 9066, the executive order signed by FDR that authorized the military to designate areas from which any or all people could be excluded. This order served as the basis for the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.
16
Untitled, 1993
acrylic on canvas
15x22 in.
$3,400
Early Work 1993-1995
Early on I had dedicated my life to music but my life changed when I went to work for Sam Francis as his studio assistant in the 80’s. As I worked for him he helped me realize that the artistic language that was most natural for me was visual and I had the ability put together visual thoughts and phrases much more easily than with music. Through his generosity he allowed me to paint in one of his studios that he no longer used and I started my lifelong journey into painting.
I started painting initially in Sam’s style but always wanted to move away from his identifiable technique. The first 5 years of my painting career is very derivative, but you can see me push away from the expected.
This is one of the first three paintings I created. I distinctly remember exploring how certain acrylic pigments moved into water while others retained their form.
Front
Window
She Buried Deep, 1998
mixed media on canvas
48x36 in.
$8,400
Renaissance Black Series 1997-1998
In 1997 I discovered a technique used during the renaissance where they used many layers of paint to build a transparent, luminous black instead of an opaque, flat black. The colors used were yellow ochre, burnt sienna, terre verte green, alizarin crimson, prussian blue and aureolin yellow. In order to learn more about glazing and building a luminous dark I reduced my palette to these 6 colors. You can see the luminosity coming from the back instead of light highlights painted over the top.