Stokes opens abstract expressionism show at Café des Artistes

It's been quite a few years since Fallbrook artist Brett Stokes has opened a show in town.

"I can't even tell you, it's been years," he said during the opening on Saturday, July 20 at Café des Artistes in Fallbrook. "I was in galleries when I was younger, in Colorado, New Mexico, Sedona, Palm Desert, Ventura, San Juan Capistrano and a lot of those were native work. But this is more like the essence of the natural world rather than the predetermined idea of a stoic native or something like that or a retrospect."

The brightly colored pieces included in the show are true to Stokes' style and he described the collection as abstract expressionism.

"I've just been trying to do non-objective work, moving shapes and colors and trying to evoke some sort of emotion," he said. "I've mostly just been experimenting.

"I wanted to do something different, I started moving colors around and seeing how I felt about it and trial and error, and this is what it is."

For more information on Stokes and his art, visit brettstokes.art. For information on Café des Artistes, visit cafedesartistes.us.

Jeff Pack can be reached by email at [email protected].