Meet Toby Britton, an emerging young artist with a love for portrait painting who has been involved with three NUMU exhibitions! Most recently, Toby won the Best in Show award for NUMU’s ArtNow 2021 Annual High School Juried Exhibition. In ArtNow 2020 Toby won 1st Place in Painting, and just this past year one of Toby’s paintings was included in NUMU’s group exhibition Art in the Time of Corona. Toby is graduating this year, 2021, from Los Gatos High School and plans to attend UCLA in the fall, majoring in Art. In this post Toby shares some thoughts on his involvement in NUMU exhibitions and his own art practice. Follow Toby on Instagram @tobythetoasters and check out his portfolio!
How did you learn about ArtNow and what made you decide to apply?
“My teacher, Augustina Matsui, is the person who first introduced me to ArtNow and it was presented as a class assignment. I first applied last year for the 2020 exhibition with a painting I worked on in class and ended up winning first place in the Painting Category. When I checked the NUMU website and saw the 2021 theme of “Good Trouble,” I knew that I wanted to reapply to both one-up myself by creating what I think is a more successful painting and to try to win Best in Show.”
What was your experience with ArtNow?
“Both in 2020 and 2021, my experience with ArtNow was great! I am very self-motivated in trying to improve my art, so I spent a lot of time outside of art class working on my ArtNow paintings. The hard work is worth it though because I get to not only see myself grow as an artist, but I also get to have my art in a museum and catalog!”
ArtNow 2020
Toby Britton, Gen Z, Oil on Canvas, ArtNow 2020 1st Place in Painting
Artist Statement: “The entirety of Generation Z is at risk. The sight of their futures is quickly becoming more obscured as the issue of climate change is becoming more global. As a member of Generation Z, I depicted this issue through various piles of plastic water bottles, which lay at my feet. This overwhelming inheritance has been handed off to my generation, and we are being forced to solve this matter, for our future depends on it.”
ArtNow 2021
Toby Britton, Bigger Man, Oil on Canvas, ArtNow 2021 Best in Show
Artist Statement: “A man in a dress can be troubling, but it’s all in good fun. After witnessing extremely toxic masculinity during LGHS’s Me Too movement, I felt compelled to create Bigger Man. I depict myself “killing” a man dressed in a traditionally-masculine suit and tie to illustrate my own struggle with gender binaries. One root of the resentment that reinforces these archaic stereotypes is misinformed Christianity, which I represent by painting Da Vinci’s The Last Supper.”
What's your favorite medium/subject matter?
“I definitely enjoy painting the most, probably because that is what has been around me the most. In specifically oil painting, I love how long it takes to dry and how there is no rush to finish something before it dries. My favorite subject matters are painting humans and very fine details. I also enjoy painting metallic things like the gilded frame in my Bigger Man painting from ArtNow 2021 or the necklace and rings in my painting Maude from the Art in the Time of Corona exhibition.”
How did you come to love art?
“I have always made art and felt inclined to take the art classes available to me, but a big influence is my mom who has been collecting paintings for as long as I can remember. They cover the walls and surrounded me for my entire childhood, so art has always been near and dear to me.”
How would you describe your art practice?
“Methodical. I take a very long time making my art because I get very caught up in detail-work. I made my painting Bigger Man in my garage which I converted to a makeshift studio for a few months. Most of the painting was done at night because, in order to finish on time, I had to pull several all-nighters. I also take my time in the beginning stages of a piece, and then have to rush the end usually to meet deadlines.”
Art in the Time of Corona
Art in the Time of Corona was New Museum Los Gatos' inaugural benefit art auction exhibition of artwork created during and inspired by the massive social and political upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic. Toby Britton was one of the 51 artists selected in this group show. Toby’s painting was titled Maude. Juried by curator and gallerist, Craig Krull, this exhibition presented artists the opportunity to reflect on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on personal and collective life.
“Isolation has been difficult, but it has also been a shared experience. The artists that I selected for this exhibition have clearly been introspective while coming to terms with an unprecedented reality… employing their work as ‘a barometer of the moment.’” — Craig Krull, exhibition juror
Toby Britton, Maude, Acrylic on canvas, 42” X 38”, NUMU Exhibition Art in the Time of Corona
Art in the Time of Corona, NUMU Exhibition, December 11, 2020 - March 14, 2021
What was your experience with Art in the Time of Corona?
“During Summer of 2020, I was working on a life-size portrait of my cousin with my main goal being to create a large-scale painting. I saw an email inviting me to submit artwork for Art in the the Time of Corona so that’s what I did. I wasn’t expecting anything when I entered, so it was a big and welcomed surprise when I found out my art was selected and that all the other exhibiting artists were much older than me. It was really cool to be featured among many professional artists, and it gave me a good artistic confidence boost as I was going into my senior year.”
Maude Artist Statement: “After being in lockdown for a few months, I was mentally drained from not seeing anyone other than my immediate family for so long. To combat my loneliness, I painted a portrait of my best friend to remind me of the almost two decades of growing up, laughing, making memories, and the life we lived before the pandemic started. With this painting, I wanted also to push my artistic boundaries and try new processes. Firstly, I made this largest painting I have done thus far, with the portrait being life-size in an attempt to make the painting feel more immersive. I also tried different paint layering techniques which I had never used before as an extra added challenge. Lastly, I wanted to become more involved with my art-making process, so I cut, primed, sanded, and stretched my canvas instead of buying an already assembled canvas which I have previously done.”
What are some of your artistic goals?
“Im hoping to incorporate more loose brush strokes and to be more gestural in my work. I also want to make larger-scale paintings. In the past year I have become more interested in sculpture and 3D work, so I want to experiment more with that as I move onto college in the near future.”
Any advice for emerging young artists like yourself?
“Go all out. Since my junior year, I have given my art pieces my all and tried to make no compromises and I have drastically improved since then. Also make sure that you are putting in the time you need because my best art pieces have taken tremendous amounts of time to complete.”
Images from Toby’s Portfolio
Posted by Michèle Jubilee, NUMU’s Education Programs Manager
