About Golden Brown
Golden Brown was founded in 2009 by David Jarred, and Kenton Brett. We quickly learned that we had a mutual interest in animation and what was then called “new media”. It was a perfect partnership of skills and professional experience. David had been working in the film industry as a lighting technician and had access to professional-grade lighting and camera gear. Meanwhile, Kenton had been working for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. He had a skilled hand for painting and drawing plus knowledge of set design and building. We had both managed to interweave our artistic interests with our professional interests; our partnership could capitalize on this whole tool chest of experience and knowledge. We began making animations and video art pieces that mixed theatre, animation and sculpture into our work. We focused on how to use video as an interactive element to entice our audiences. We had great success at this with our first collaborative work, Dance Madness. The piece was a looping video of performers dressed in costumes and hyper-colorized in post-production. The video has been re-shaped and re-installed in a variety of spaces as a sculpture of moving light beckoning the audience to dance with it.
We kept finding ways to make work that used our skill sets and melded artistic disciplines. We created video elements that were used as set pieces in theatrical works for Pones Inc. and Director Harper K.Lee and Alex Talks. In 2012 Pones Inc. recruited us to collaborate on community driven performance for Cincy Fringe Fest. It was called Project Activate and paired 12 artists with 5 service organizations. This project really changed us both at our core. We were paired with Heartland Trans Wellness Group. The project challenged us to get to know a new community of people, to change our perspectives and educate us about the community. This was a watershed moment for Golden Brown as artists and really empowered us to see the positive change we could make through getting communities involved in art making.
David has worked on film productions including award winning films like Carol, Judas and The Black Messiah, and action blockbusters like The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Working on these productions David learned how to build specialized rigs for cameras and lighting. These skills have come in handy for our art practice as they boil down to how to make special equipment move safely and how to install heavy items. He brought this knowledge to Golden Brown along with management, production, and technical skills. During this time Kenton was honing his professional artistic skills.
With over 200 theatrical productions in Kenton’s career as a scenic painter and set designer, there are few that stand out for their level of difficulty and beautiful effect. The Secret Garden, designed by Narelle Sissons, is perhaps the most successful design in his experience. Kenton oversaw a great deal of the scenic and prop production to emulate the look and feel of a storybook. The set was made of huge stacks of “paper” with oversized excerpts and illustrations from The Secret Garden. A pop-up finale was hidden inside these pages as the garden came into full bloom with big pink and purple flowers. The effect was stunning. In 2013, he was given the opportunity to design a mural for Tender Mercies, Inc. in OTR. The design process of this piece really changed how he approached public art and beautifully illustrates the services Tender Mercies provides while being fun and completely inclusive. He spoke with many residents from the area to really get a sense of the organization and the neighborhood, and with the guidance of Artworks, delivered a beautiful and memorable mural.
As we both worked our ways up to department heads in our respective industries, Golden Brown was making itself known in the art world. By 2020 Golden Brown had started winning grants and awards for cutting edge projects like Riptide Rhapsody, Underpants Dance, and Gwendolyn Gila. Riptide Rhapsody has been screened in over 30 film festivals on every continent minus Antarctica. It has won many awards and nominations along the way. Underpants Dance was granted funding to be a part of the Blink 2017 parade. It used custom-made lighting apparatuses worn underneath inflatable suits, each designed with individual characters using drawing and painting techniques. The work was well received and showed our ability to once again work with intersections between artistic disciplines like performance, costume design, sculpture and lighting design. In 2019 we supersized our concept for Blink and won a grant to create Gwendolyn Gila. We challenged ourselves to create a light up monster that was 32 feet long and powered by 6 people. This monster had to light up from the inside and articulate to eat and digest performers in light-up bug costumes. It was also a feat to design this enormous beast to move elegantly from Garfield place down Vine Street to the Banks. This was an enormous mental and physical challenge, a testament to our ability to work together and solve problems.
Our Team
Dave Jarred
Dave Jarred produces inherently ironic art. Behind lumpy shapes and slouching lines dwells a paradox, compositions both lovely and loathsome. Armed with a keen eye and a wry wit, casual innuendo flirts with a youthful aesthetic in Jarred’s work. Simple forms that find complexity in crude marks, swelling shapes. Lines that waver from masterful to juvenile with a few flicks of the wrist. Objects are rendered heavy, swelling and lilting in their own strange gravity, leaving the viewer wondering whether this should be displayed beside the impressions of Van Gogh or a B+ essay on a refrigerator magnet. It would appear he has every intention of this experience.
Kenton Brett
Kenton is a consummate craftsperson. Initially trained as a ceramicist he has always cultivated a strong love for drawing and making weird clay puppets. In much of the work for Golden Brown we create our initial sketches together and he is then tasked to use his dainty little sausages-like tendrils to finish out the pieces with intricate details and flourishes. If I had to boil him down into a little bowl of brown porridge my fondest intimate moments with him come from Kenton giggling with child-like glee while he is drawing something totally bizarre and gross in his sketchbook.
Golden Brown CV
Digital Animation
2021
Ranger Ready commercial - story boards, digital assets and animaiton by Golden Brown Enterprizes
Sphere Mobile POS video - story boards and digital asset creation by Golden Brown Enterprizes.
Blue TV eyes (WIP) - a 4 minute 30 second animation featuring music from local band Woody Trinkle. Script, storyboards, character design and animation by Golden Brown Enterprizes.
Art Exhibtions
2021
Tran & Tepe - design, fabrication, and installation of a kinetic lighting sculpture at The Center in Cincinnati, July 10
Free State Film Festival - Official selection. Lawrence Arts Center Front Gallery, 940 New Hampshire Street, Lawrence, Kansas. June 21-27
Cooper Awards - Finalist Best Animation Award, Tallinn, Estonia, December 10
London International Monthly Film Festival - Best Animation Award, London, England, United Kingdom, May Awards
Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival - Judge’s Selected Shorts category. Shibuya City, Tokyo, Japan, May 30 - June 30
Free State Film Festival - Official selection. Lawrence Arts Center Front Gallery, 940 New Hampshire Street, Lawrence, Kansas, June 21-27
Assurdo Film Festival - Semi Finalist, Milan Italy, June 19
2019
Blink Parade - Recipient of $2500.00 grant to create a 32 foot puppet, “Gwendolyn the Gila Monster”. Gwendolyn was hand painted and outfitted with a custom lighting apparatus. The puppet was piloted by 6 performers and a lighting designer. We also built 6 light-up bug costumes for the monster to eat. Gwendolyn in essence was a 6 block 13 person performance, Cincinnati, Ohio, October,
2018
LOOK - People’s Liberty space at 2840 Colerain ave, Installation of interactive video screens for “Dance Madness” and public performance by Golden Brown and Audience. Cincinnati, Ohio, March 23.
Featured Artist: The Next Edition - The Gallery @ Felsenhaus242, invited to exhibit “Whisper”, a video deflating the high fashion world of brand marketing. Cincinnati, Ohio, February through August
2017
Blink Parade - Recipient of $500.00 grant to create “Under Pants Dance” 4 inflatable, hand drawn character costumes with color changing lighting apparatus underneath, Cincinnati, Ohio, October
The Monthly Film Festival- Official Selection, Glasgow, UK, January.
Cyberia Online Film Festival - Official Selection, San Francisco, Cali- fornia, February 10- February 12
Anim!Arte - Official selection, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, March9 - April 11
Green Mountain Film Festival, Official Selection, Montpelier, Ver- mont, March 17-March 26
Blackbird Film Fest - Best Animation, Cortland, New York, April 21- 23
2016
Riptide Rhapsody at the Contemporary Arts Center - screening of Riptide Rhapsody and installation of three large shadow boxes, Curated by Steven Matijcio <smatijcio@contemporaryartscenter.org> Cincinnati, Ohio, August 31- October 9
Move Me Productions Belgium - Official Selection, 1st edition, Antwerp, Belgium, February,
Ouchy Film Awards - Nominee Best Animation, Winter 2016, Lau- sanne, Switzerland
Largo Film Awards - Nominee Best Animation, April 2016, Online
Ohio Shorts - Runner-up Best Short Film, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, April 30
Painted Birds Film Festival - Official Selection, Madrid, Spain, April
Animation Attack! - Winner Best Hand-Made Animation, Atlanta, Georgia, May 21
Independents’ Day - Official Selection, Ohio Art League X Space Gallery Columbs, Ohio, September 17
Traveling Shorts Film Festival - Official Selection, Palazzina Reale, Florence, Italy, June 7
Ohio Shorts Night Film Festival - Official Selection, Gateway Film Center, Columbus Ohio, June 8
Spotlight Short Film Awards - Winner Platinum Award, Atlanta, Georgia, June 18
Tracce Cinematografiche Film Fest - Official Selection, Nettuno,Rome, Italy, June 21-25
Indie Street Film Festival - Official Selection, Red Bank, NewJersey, July 6-10
SABC Ekurhuleni International Film Festival - Official Selection, Ekurhuleni, South Africa, July
Woodland Film Festival - Winner Best Animation, Tumbarumba, New South Wales, Australia, August 5
ANIMAZE Montreal International Animation Film Festival - Official Selection, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, August 20
Atlanta Underground Film Festival - Official Selection, Atlanta, Georgia, August 20th
The Blue Sky International Animation Festival - Official Selection, Wooster, Ohio, Sep- tember 6
SFIndie's "Another Hole in the Head" Film Festival - Official Selection, San Francisco, California, November, 5
Lone Star Film Festival - Official Selection, Fort Worth, Texas, November 10-13
Caminhos Film Festival - Official Selection, Coimbra, Portugal, November, 19-26
Chicago International REEL Shorts Film Festival - Official Selection, Chicago, Illinois, December 3
Animation Chico - Official Selection, Chico, California, December 10
2015
Modern Makers Toy-Making Event - Hand-crafted toys and sculptures for charity. Niehaus Studios, Curated by Catherine Richards <catherine.e.richards@gmail.com> Cincinnati, Ohio, November 20
2014
Cincinnati Fringe Fest: Frankenstein - Performances at The Hanke Building, Curated by Pones Inc. Kim Popa <kim@ponesinc.com>Cincinnati, Ohio, May-June
2013
The (f)Art Show - A collection of artwork inspired by flatulence. Thunder-Sky Inc, August 30- October 30, Cincinnati, Ohio. -
Cincinnati Fringe Fest, Telephone - Live theatrical performance, directed by Harper K. Lee <harperklee@gmail.com> Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, May-June
2012
Fly Your Own Freak Flag: A Thunder-Sky inc Production - Parade art and exhibition, Thunder-Sky inc <thunderskyinc@gmail.com>, Cincinnati, OH, Northside Fourth of July Parade, June - August
Cincinnati Fringe Festival: Project Activate - An interactive collaboration of 12 artists with 5 different community service organizations, The Emory Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 1 -June 9
<kim@ponesinc.com>
Performance and Time Arts Showcase - Video projection of The Body Speaks: Captured, Contemporary Dance Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio, January 13 and 14
2011
Cincinnati Fringe Fest: The Body Speaks: A collaborative work of performance, video, photography and movement, May-June
2010
Performance and Time Arts Showcase, Video projection of Rocketships and Rayguns, Contemporary Dance Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 1 and 2
Arthole’s Real Hot Toy Show, Group show, curated by the members Arthole, Prairie Gallery, David Rosenthal <davidrosenthal@fuse.net>, Cincinnati, Ohio, September- August
2009
Peephole People - A Show of Video Works by Arthole and friends, Creative Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio,November 20, 2009 – Jan 2,
Mimeography - An Arthole performance at the Essex studio Artwalk, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1-2
2008
Bizarre Evolution - 32 cutting edge Artists, Symbiotic Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, November 1
Baby You Can Drive My Car - Art installations within vehicles, Symbiotic Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 25
Indianapolis Museum of Art - On Procession, a Street Performance, Fountain Square, Indianapolis, Indiana, April 26
Indianapolis Museum of Art - On Procession In the Galleries, McCormack Forefront Galleries, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, May 2- August 10
Golden Brown Produced Short Video Content
Riptide Rhapsody (2016)- Stop-motion video featuring the music of The Happy Maladies. Numerous screenings and Museum shows
Frankenstein (2014)- Supplemental video content to a play written by Alex Talks and Harper Lee. Part of Cincy Fringe Fest.
Rites of Spring (2013)- Digital video of live dancers in a portion of The Rites of Spring by Igor Stravinsky.
Whisper (2013)- Silent looped digital video vignettes inspired by per- fume advertisements. Part of The (F)art Show at Thundersky, Inc.
Telephone (2013)- Supplemental video content to a play written by Alex Talks and Harper Lee. Part of Cincy Fringe Fest.
Project Activate (2012)- two separate collaborations with members of Pones Inc. Interactive digital video and sound installations.
The Body Speaks: Captured (2011)- Digital video collaboration with Pones Inc. and other artists. Work inspired by photography of Sean Dunn, featured as part of The Body Speaks at Cincy Fringe Fest. Also screened at Performance and Time Arts series at Contemporary Dance Theater, Cincinnati, OH.
On/Off (2010)- collaboration with Pones Inc. at CM Mockbee Build- ing, Cincinnati OH. Video installation and set design
Dance Madness (2010)- Digital video collaboration with members of Arthole, multiple screenings in Cincinnati OH. Colorized video loop with dancers in costumes.
Rocket Ships and Ray Guns (2010)- Stop-motion with live actors on an evolving set. Created for the Performance and Time Arts se- ries and Cincinnati Contemporary Dance Theater
Riptide Rhapsody Screening Resume
Awards
Animated Short Award - Blackbird Film Fest, 2017
Best Animation - Woodland Film Festival, 2016
Best Animation - Chicago International Reel Shorts Film Fest, 2016
Platinum Award - Spotlight Short Film Awards, 2016
Best Handmade Animation - Animation Attack, 2016
Screenings
2017
The Monthly Film Festival- January, Official Selection, Glasgow, UK, January.
Cyberia Online Film Festival, Official Selection, San Francisco, California, February 10- February 12
Anim!Arte - International Student Animation Festival of Brazil, Official selection, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, March9 - April 11
Green Mountain Film Festival, Official Selection, Montpelier, Vermont, March 17-March 26
Blackbird Film Fest, Animated Short Award, Cortland, New York, April 21-23
2016
Move Me Productions Belgium, 1st edition, Antwerp, Belgium, February, 2016
Ouchy Film Awards Nominee Best Animation, Winter 2016, Lausanne, Switzerland
Largo Film Awards Nominee Best Animation April 2016, Online
Ohio Shorts- Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, April 30,2016
Painted Birds Film Festival Madrid, Spain, April 2016
Animation Attack! Winner Best Hand-Made Animation, Atlanta, Georgia, May 21 2016
Independents’ Day Ohio Art League X Space Gallery Columbs, Ohio, September 17, 2016
Traveling Shorts Film Festival Palazzina Reale, Florence, Italy, June 7, 2016
Ohio Shorts Night, Film Festival of Columbus, Runner-up, Gateway Film Center, Columbus Ohio, June 8, 2016
Spotlight Short Film Awards Award Winner Winner Platinum Award, Atlanta, Georgia, June 18, 2016
Tracce Cinematografiche Film Fest- Nettuno,Rome, Italy, June 21-25, 2016
Indie Street Film Festival Red Bank, NewJersey, July 6-10, 2016
SABC Ekurhuleni International Film Festival Ekurhuleni, South Africa, July, 2016
Woodland Film Festival Winner Best Animation, Tumbarumba, New South Wales, Australia, August 5, 2016
Montreal International Animation Film Festival - ANIMAZE Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, August 20, 2016
Atlanta Underground Film Festival Atlanta, Georgia, August 20th, 2016
Riptide Rhapsody Exhibition, Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati, Ohio, August 31 - October 9, 2016
The Blue Sky International Animation Festival Wooster, Ohio, September 6, 2016
SFindie's "Another Hole in the Head" Film Festival San Francisco, California, November, 5, 2016
Lone Star Film Festival Fort Worth, Texas, November 10-13, 2016
Caminhos Film Festival Coimbra, Portugal, November, 19-26,2016
Chicago International REEL Shorts Film Festival, Winner Best Animation Award, Chicago, Illinois, December 3, 2016
Animation Chico Chico, California, December 10, 2016
Art Exhibitions
2016
Riptide Rhapsody at the Contemporary Arts Center - screening of Riptide Rhapsody and installation of three large shadow boxes, Cincinnati, Ohio, August 31- October 9
Curated by Steven Matijcio
2015
Modern Makers Toy-Making Event, Niehaus Studios, Cincinnati, Ohio, November 20
Curated by Catherine Richards
2014
Cincinnati Fringe Fest, Frankenstein, Hanke Building, Cincinnati, Ohio, May-June
Curated by Pones Inc. Kim Popa
2013
The (f)Art Show, Thunder-Sky Inc, August 30- October 30, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Curated by Golden Brown Enterprizes and Thunder-Sky Inc.
Cincinnati Fringe Fest, Telephone, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, May-June
Directed by Harper K. Lee
2012
Fly Your Own Freak Flag: A Thunder-Sky inc Production, Thunder-Sky inc, Cincinnati, Oh, 45223 & Northside Fourth of July Parade, June - August
Cincinnati Fringe Festival, Project Activate, A collaboration of 12 artists with 5 different community service organizations, The Emory Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 1 -June 9
Performance and Time Arts Showcase,Contemporary Dance Theatre,Cincinnati, Ohio, January 13 and 14
2011
Cincinnati Fringe Fest, The Body Speaks: A collaborative work of performance, video, photography and movement, May-June
2010
Performance and Time Arts Lab, Contemporary Dance Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 1 and 2
Arthole’s Real Hot Toy Show, Prairie gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, September- August
2009
Peephole People: A Show of Video Works by Arthole and Friends, Creative Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio,November 20, 2009 – Jan 2, 2010
Mimeography: An Arthole performance at the Essex studio Artwalk, Cincinati, Ohio, May 1-2
2008
Bizarre Evolution: 32 cutting edge Artists, Symbiotic Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, November 1
Baby You Can Drive My Car: Installations With in Vehicles
Symbiotic Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 25
Indianapolis Museum of Art: On Procession, a Street Performance, Fountain Square, Indianapolis, Indiana, April 26
Indianapolis Museum of Art on Procession: In the Galleries, McCormack Forefront Galleries, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, May 2- August 10
Golden Brown Produced Short Video Content
Riptide Rhapsody (2016)- Stop-motion video featuring the music of The Happy Maladies. Numerous screenings and Museum shows
Frankenstein (2014)- Supplemental video content to a play written by Alex Talks and Harper Lee. Part of Cincy Fringe Fest.
Rites of Spring (2013)- Digital video of live dancers in a portion of The Rites of Spring by Igor Stravinsky.
Whisper (2013)- Silent looped digital video vignettes inspired by perfume advertisements. Part of The (F)art Show at Thundersky, Inc.
Telephone (2013)- Supplemental video content to a play written by Alex Talks and Harper Lee. Part of Cincy Fringe Fest.
Project Activate (2012)- two separate collaborations with members of Pones Inc. Interactive digital video and sound installations.
The Body Speaks: Captured (2011)- Digital video collaboration with Pones Inc. and other artists. Work inspired by photography of Sean Dunn, featured as part of The Body Speaks at Cincy Fringe Fest. Also screened at Performance and Time Arts series at Contemporary Dance Theater, Cincinnati, OH.
On/Off (2010)- collaboration with Pones Inc. at CM Mockbee Building, Cincinnati OH. Video installation and set design
Dance Madness (2010)- Digital video collaboration with members of Arthole, multiple screenings in Cincinnati OH. Colorized video loop with dancers in costumes.
Rocket Ships and Ray Guns (2010)- Stop-motion with live actors on an evolving set. Created for the Performance and Time Arts series and Cincinnati Contemporary Dance Theater