Hi! I’m Brett, the Founder, Creator, Writer, Director, Editor, and Summer Intern of Art Off the Wall. I have a Ph.D. in Art History specializing in Golden Age Spain (think: Velázquez) and Viceregal Latin America (think: the Mexico City Cathedral). I’ve researched Goya at the Frick Collection, presented on the writing of Robert Venturi, taught classes on everything from Teotihuacán to the Ashcan School, and am the author of a recently published article about sculpture and the Spanish Inquisition. I am also a trivia buff and have appeared on the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
I started Art Off the Wall as a way to make art history approachable for a broad audience. So many times during my years in academia I had people tell me they “don’t get art” or that they feel overwhelmed by museums. It doesn’t have to be that way! Works of art do so many of the things that we are used to seeing everyday in movies and TV and on social media. There is art that’s supposed to make us laugh, art that’s supposed to make us weep, art that’s supposed to make us ask questions, and art that is supposed to wow us with special effects. Art Off the Wall is here to make those connections. No fancy jargon, no dry monotone, no classical music. This is art history refashioned for the modern world – a pop culture lens on great masters and iconic works, all told plain English, and with a dash of nerd humor for good measure!