I wasn’t alive in the 80’s. Hell, when I try to claim ’90s baby, I’m told I’m too young to remember it. But arbitrary generational divides / you had to be there mentalities aside, the artist I’m reviewing today ‘makes collages out of garbage’ which feels thematically relevant, at the very least.

Brandon Hodges claims our last coke-fueled inflationary period, but his work consists of pencil doodles and paintings with chemical color palettes ripped from the cartoons I watched as a kid. (Apologies to the high art sn0bs. You shall continue to get nothing of true value from this h0r. I will, however, continue to spotlight the work that connects with me, if only on a clearly unresolved childhood trauma level.)

Take, for example, untitled (creature 26), which I feel contractually obligated to highlight, if only to give these blatant Spongebob background fish their oh-so deserved head nod, because you clearly can’t stop drawing them yourself. The style reminds me faintly of Basquiat, but to make that comparison would certainly be doing a disservice to both artists. And, as you’ve probably realized by now, every mixed media portrait with a silhouette and a splash of color reminds me of Basquiat. I simp for lite remixes as much as the next mass-produced clout chaser. But, at the end of the day, in the words of the great Swae Lee, “I like what I like…”

So, if you, too, like a good nostalgic play as much as the next guy, you can support his Peter Pan complex, and you don’t even need a MetaMask to do it. Brandon offers no NFTs for sale (to his detriment, and my surprise) but he does offer some laptop stickers or basement sitting room posters, which you can purchase here.