JJ Brine explained

Birth Name:Jonathan Friel[1]
Birth Date:November 8, 1982
Birth Place:Portland, Oregon, US
Death Date:[2]
Death Place:Gainesville, Florida, US
Occupation:Installation Artist, Singer/Songwriter, Filmmaker
Years Active:2010–2021
Label:DrugLord Records
Associated Acts:The LaBiancas, CodeCracker, Girls Love Ghosts
Website:jjbrine.com

JJ Brine (born Jonathan Friel)[1] was an American visual artist and gallerist. The artist went by the title "The Crown Prince of Hell." He operated and curated the Vector Gallery in New York City, which drew attention and critical response for its avant-garde postmodern multimedia narratives on Abrahamic religions. The gallery attracted controversy as “The official art gallery of Satan” and purported to operate as a sovereign nation with its own time zone, theology, and community of adherents, Vectorians. Some refer to the gallery as a cult, and to Brine in turn as a cult leader.[3] In an interview with V Magazine, Brine clarified that Vector is not a cult. "We're really a group of close friends. We have the same religion, but we practice it differently. The practice of our religion is making art."[4] [5] [6] Brine & the Vector Gallery were often likened to a Millennial Andy Warhol meets GG Allin.[7]

The NYC location closed when Brine traveled to Tanna, Vanuatu and opened for a period on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles.[8] The press reported Brine's intentions to move Vector from LA to Washington, DC during the American presidential election season. The final incarnation of the Vector Gallery opened in the fall of 2017 at 951 Grand Street in Brooklyn and closed in September 2018.[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Early life

Brine was born in Portland, Oregon, he was adopted hours after being born. His biological mother is part Puerto Rican. When he was three his family moved to Gainesville, Florida where he spent his formative years.[15] Brine graduated Cum laude in Political science from University of Florida. He later attended graduate school at American University of Beirut focusing on Middle Eastern politics & foreign affairs. He was also an assistant to former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft in Washington, D.C.[1] [16] Earlier, he interned for the American-Turkish Council.[1]

Art and career

In 2010 Brine moved to New York City. Inspired by his love for The Velvet Underground & Nico he chose to take residence on St Marks Place in the East Village. Brine pursued music releasing a 2012 album "President of Mozambique". He later formed the band The LaBiancas with fellow performance artist & frequent collaborator Lena Marquise.

Vector Gallery

On July 15, 2013, Brine opened Vector Gallery on 40 Clinton Street in the Lower East Side of New York.[17] However, the venue lost its lease at the end of May 2014 and the gallery relocated to 154 East Broadway, straddling the border between the Lower East Side and Chinatown, 11 days later.[18] [19] [20] The second space contained a backroom signposted, "Cost Of Entry Your Soul."[21]

Critics praised Brine's work for its originality and vision[22] and it was compared to Andy Warhol's Factory by The Huffington Post ("Look: Is this the Next Warhol Factory?")[8] [23] [24] but the gallery has been a subject of controversy for many neighborhood residents due to its occult theme and Brine's intense imagery of Satanism and Charles Manson and fringe elements have connected Brine's work to the Illuminati.[25] [26] [27] [28] [29] Guestofaguest.com described the installation: "Is it the lair of a mad scientist? An occult apothecary? A wonderland of neon worship? Well, it's sort of all that (and more) rolled up into one unique gallery space, run by resident artist JJ Brine."[30] OracleTalk.com also wrote, "Implementing cool DIY principle and conjuring references to Duchamp’s ready-mades and rollicking religious iconography, the Vector Gallery is a gushing cornucopia of hypnotizing elements, provocative subject matter and lots of mirrors."[31] Vice's Mitchell Sunderland called it "one of the last original places on the Lower East Side."[32] Urban Resource has also called Vector the "most controversial art gallery" in New York City.[33]

On October 16, 2013, Vector celebrated the 75th birthday of The Velvet Underground chanteuse Nico with "Time Doesn't Move."[34] [35]

"Vector Gallery is a gift of creativity to New York, instead of another place to buy stuff," wrote Art Nerd New York's Lori Zimmer.[36] The gallery has also been described as being "among contemporary art’s foremost installation spaces.[37] "

Brine and the ministers of Vector began holding a series religious services as performance art at the gallery on February 1, 2014.[38] [39] [40]

Brine was sponsored by Select Fair in conjunction with Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 and opened Vector Gallery on site. Part of the gallery's participation included "Body As Commodity", an installation in which Lena Marquise (Vectorian minister of state), charged cellular devices with her vagina. Famed. Musical artist Usher visited the Vector booth on December 3, 2014, and participated by charging his cell phone inside the installation. It was the top news story generated during the 2014 Art Basel.[41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] The Vector Gallery Art Basel installation was also featured on The Real Housewives of New York City and TMZ on TV.

Brine was also one of the last guests featured on East Village Radio's final hours of broadcasting on the Andrew Andrew show, where Brine performed The Ritual of Infinite Names, or "AlanN". The hosts said that Vector closing its Clinton street location was "almost as important as CBGB's," and that the interview was "the last, and possibly the best" of their decade-long series.[47] [48] In April 2015 Brine announced the NOIR (Night Of Interior Restitution) Covenant, which detailed the means by which souls could be reclaimed and offered "an irreversible decline" to the city of New York.[49]

In 2015, Brine was commissioned by clothing retailer Opening Ceremony to provide the space for their tribute to Gregg Araki’s Doom Generation.[50] [51] Brine moved the Vector Gallery to Los Angeles in the summer of 2015.[52] Vector Gallery opened at 8 pm, August 8, 2015 on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, again generating attention from the art press and controversy and protests from local residents.[53] On December 28, 2015 the Vector Gallery hosted "The Retrial Of Charles Manson", featuring Manson's alleged biological son Mathew Roberts. "The Retrial Of Charles Manson" was covered by media outlets such as TMZ.[54] [55] In 2015 Brine returned to Art Basel and was sponsored by The Satellite Show. His "Satanic Suicide Hotline" won ArtFCity's annual "Who Wore It Better" critique.[56] After closing the gallery in Los Angeles, Brine announced plans to open it in Washington, DC “to program the elections, to make my commentary on them.”

The Vector Gallery moved back to New York City with its fourth incarnation opening in August 2016 at 199 E. 3rd Street in the East Village.[57] [58] The Vector Gallery endured an electrical fire in January 2017; the gallery sustained minor danger.[59] During the "Bravana: Middle East Peace Mass" on March 1, 2017 (which also happened to be Ash Wednesday) an onlooker on the street called 911, mistaking controlled flames being used in the mass for a fire. The FDNY showed up with three trucks and over 20 fire fighters to shut down the small gallery space for the night.[60] [61] On March 31, 2017, New York City Buildings Department filed complaints that the Vector Gallery was "being used illegally for religious assembly".[62] [63] The East Village location of the Vector Gallery closed on July 1.[64]

The fifth incarnation of the Vector Gallery, dubbed "Vector V: The official art gallery of Jesus Christ", was slated to open at 951 Grand Street in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn on November 16, 2017.[65]

Brine referred to his installations as "Shrines" and his exhibits combine performance art and visual narrative and his work has been compared to that of Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol.[66] [67] [68]

Vectorian faith

Vector has its foundations in the Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Brine described Vector as the fourth chapter and final chapter in a tetralogy preceded by the Torah, Bible and the Quran. Although Vector presents itself as "the official art gallery of Satan", the supreme Vectorian deity is identified as ALAN.[69] Brine described the lemniverse as a "temporal-spatial simulation experiment". ALAN communicates with other "embodied fragments of its will" through the experiments in the simulation. Brine predicted the world will end in 2033 AD through the simultaneous annihilation of all life on earth, or the return to ALAN.[69]

In popular culture

JJ Brine has been called “an icon of post-American America.”[70] In September 2015, Vice ran an article depicting an event in which Brine and his Vectorian Government placed a curse on Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, citing her refusal to issue gay marriage certificates as the motive for the ritual.[71] Brine's art has been praised by underground filmmakers John Waters and Bruce LaBruce.[71] [72] [73] [74] Brine's occultism has drawn the attention of conspiracy theorists, who believe he is part of a new world order global conspiracy.[75] [76]

Personal life

Brine was openly gay. His friendship with actress Amanda Bynes garnered international tabloid attention in 2014.[77] [78] [79] Brine spent the COVID-19 pandemic living at home with his elderly parents. Brine died unexpectedly on June 13, 2021, in Gainesville, Florida at the age of 38.

Music

Brine described his music as "electronic spirit music," or ESM, which refers to the channeling of spirits.[80]

In addition to his solo project, he was also a member of the LaBiancas, a Charles Manson concept band, along with bandmate Lena Marquise.

Studio albums

With The LaBiancas

Singles

With the LaBiancas

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Provocateur J.J. Brine Stirs Up New York Art Scene . Vilensky . Mike . 12 May 2015. The Wall Street Journal . May 20, 2015.
  2. Web site: Jonathan Friel Obituary. The Gainesville Sun. 31 August 2021. February 12, 2023.
  3. Web site: JJ Brine's 'Vector Gallery' In New York City. The Huffington Post. 20 January 2014. January 24, 2014.
  4. Web site: JJ Brine is a Telepathic Visionary, Not a Cult Leader V Magazine. vmagazine.com. 2019-06-30.
  5. Web site: These Artists Believe Aliens are Real, Satan Lives, and the Apocalypse Is Coming. Wilson. Michael. Johnson. Paddy. 2018-01-31. Garage. en-US. 2019-06-30.
  6. Web site: Posthumanism and Catharsis: JJ Brine's "Vector Gallery" :: AEQAI. en-US. 2019-06-30.
  7. Web site: 2016-01-06. Best of The Next: JJ Brine Wonderland Magazine. 2021-06-17. Wonderland. en-US.
  8. Web site: Vector Gallery Opens In L.A.. The Wild. August 28, 2015.
  9. Web site: Raising Hell: JJ Brine is Bringing His Satanic Vector Gallery to D.C. . Kimball . Whitney . 18 February 2016. . February 19, 2016.
  10. News: Satan's Own Art Gallery Returns to NYC The Creators Project. The Creators Project. 2016-10-28.
  11. News: Official Art Gallery of Satan Comes Back With Its Tail Between Its Legs. Bedford + Bowery. 2016-10-28.
  12. News: This Lower East Side Art Gallery Transcends Time and Space - NYU Local. 2016-09-15. NYU Local. en-US. 2016-10-28.
  13. Web site: Butcher White Americans – Vector Gallery – Vivisxn The bleeding-edge digital dossier showcasing all things cool. vivisxn.com. 2016-10-28.
  14. Web site: JJ Brine. Alt Esc Platform. 2016-10-28.
  15. Web site: JJ Brine is a Telepathic Visionary, Not a Cult Leader. 2021-06-17. V Magazine.
  16. Web site: The Crown Prince of Hell: An Interview with JJ Brine . Ritchie . Salvador . 12 November 2015. disinfo . February 19, 2016.
  17. Web site: Vector Gallery. Vector Gallery. August 8, 2013.
  18. Web site: 'Official Art Gallery of Satan' Gets Burned By Its Landlord. New York Magazine. 12 June 2014. July 16, 2014.
  19. Web site: Satanic Vector Gallery Relocates to 154 East Broadway. boweryboogie.com. July 16, 2014.
  20. Web site: Satanist Gallery Brings Charles Manson to Chinatown . Hyperallergic . 31 July 2014 . November 17, 2014.
  21. Web site: Nichole Disser. July 25, 2014. JJ Brine Will Let You Into His Back Room, But the Price Is Your Soul. January 24, 2014. bedfordandbowery.com.
  22. Web site: New experiences. Christina Brunks. August 8, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130927170713/http://www.christabrunks.com/artist-news.html/new-experiences/. September 27, 2013. dead.
  23. Web site: Look: Is This The NExt Warhol Factory?. The Huffington Post . January 24, 2014.
  24. Web site: The rebirth of Lower East Side galleries . Walks of New York . 18 July 2015 . August 28, 2015.
  25. Web site: Native Underground: The Crown Prince of Hell, JJ Brine. New York Natives. August 8, 2013.
  26. Web site: Whitney Kimball. 26 September 2013. What's the Deal With the Gallery of Satan?. September 25, 2013. Art F City.
  27. Web site: Vector Gallery. The Hermetic Library Blog . 31 August 2013 . September 7, 2013.
  28. Web site: In conversation with JJ Brine about Vector Gallery. The Hermetic Library Blog. 4 April 2014. July 16, 2014.
  29. Web site: À la Gloire de Jésus-Christ . alagloiredejesuschrist.unblog.fr . August 28, 2015.
  30. Web site: Everything You Need to Know This Week on New York's Art Scene. Guestofaguest.com. September 7, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130928081716/http://guestofaguest.com/new-york/art/everything-you-need-to-know-this-week-on-new-yorks-art-scene-91%26slide%3D2. September 28, 2013. dead.
  31. Web site: 'The Devil is the Lord and the Lord is the Devil' JJ Brine + Julia Sinelnikova Launch The Nocturnal Vector Gallery. OracleTalk.com . September 25, 2013.
  32. Web site: New York's Satanic Vector Gallery Is Closing . Sunderland . Mitchell. 5 April 2015. Vice. April 13, 2015.
  33. Web site: Art Basel Paints the Town in North Beach . Urban Resource . August 28, 2015.
  34. Web site: Perler . Elie . 16 October 2013 . Vector Gallery on Clinton Celebrates 75 Years of Nico with 'Time Doesn't Move'. Bowery Boogie . October 25, 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20220525134812/https://boweryboogie.com/2013/10/vector-gallery-clinton-celebrates-75-years-nico-time-doesnt-move/. May 25, 2022.
  35. Web site: Time Doesn't Move - 75 Years of Nico. NYC Art Scene . October 25, 2013.
  36. Web site: The United States of Vector. Art Nerd New York. November 30, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131204034805/http://art-nerd.com/newyork/the-united-states-of-vector/. December 4, 2013. dead.
  37. Web site: JJ Brine's VECTOR Gallery Explores Cultural Hybridity. Critique Collective. July 16, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140725193411/http://critiquecollective.com/2014/06/09/jj-brines-vector-gallery-explores-cultural-hybridity/. July 25, 2014. dead.
  38. Web site: Mass at Vector With JJ Brine and Julia Maria Sinelnikova. Art Nerd New York. February 25, 2013.
  39. Web site: Dear Annie: The Post-Human Exorcism . Art Nerd New York. February 25, 2013.
  40. Web site: JJ Brine's Al Qaeda art. Ramel. July 16, 2014.
  41. Web site: Frank. Priscilla. 8 December 2014. Yes, Usher Charged His Phone In A Vagina. And No, It Was Not Art (NSFW). April 13, 2015. Huffington Post.
  42. Web site: Duran. Jose. 5 December 2014. Meet Lena Marquise, the Performance Artist Behind the Vagina Phone Charger (NSFW). April 13, 2015. Miami New Times.
  43. Web site: Sargent. Jordan. 4 December 2014. Usher Charged His Phone Inside a Woman's Vagina at Art Basel. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150413191643/http://gawker.com/usher-apparently-charged-his-phone-inside-a-womans-vagi-1666876109. 13 April 2015. April 13, 2015. Gawker.
  44. Web site: Sanchez. Karizza. 4 December 2014. Usher May or May Not Have Charged His Phone With a Woman's Vagina at Art Basel, but It Sure Looks Like It. April 13, 2015. Complex.
  45. 4 December 2014. Usher Tests the Limits of Art With This Vagina Phone-Charger: NSFW. April 13, 2015. Billboard.
  46. Web site: 4 December 2014. Usher Charges IPhone in Woman's Vagina. April 13, 2015. TMZ.
  47. Web site: Vector Gallery: La Creación de un Nuevo Movimento Religioso a Través del Arte . Hellow . August 28, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150731154950/http://hellowhellow.com/vector-gallery-la-creacion-de-un-nuevo-movimiento-religioso-a-traves-del-arte/ . July 31, 2015 . dead .
  48. Brine . JJ . JJ Brine . AndrewAndrew . An Interview with JJ Brine . AndrewAndrew Sound Sound . . New York City . July 16, 2014.
  49. Web site: JJ Brine is Absconding From New York City, Satanic Gallery May Be Doomed . Disser . Nicole. 7 April 2015. Bedford+Bowery. April 13, 2015.
  50. Web site: The Doom Generation Turns 20: Opening Ceremony's Tribute Collection – Opening Ceremony. January 4, 2016. www.openingceremony.us.
  51. Web site: Vector Gallery Holds a Pop-Up Satanic Mass -artnet News. January 4, 2016. artnet News. 26 October 2015 .
  52. Web site: Satanic Vector Gallery Flees the Lower East Side for LA . Perler . Elie . 10 April 2015. Bowery Boogie. April 13, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220813132230/https://boweryboogie.com/2015/04/satanic-vector-gallery-flees-the-lower-east-side-for-la/ . August 13, 2022.
  53. Web site: Whacked-out New York Art Space 'Vector Gallery' Decamps West. Los Angeles, Prepare to Not Know What Hit You . Black Book. August 28, 2015.
  54. Web site: Charles Manson's Son -- I'll Prove My Dad's Innocence. www.tmz.com. January 4, 2016.
  55. Web site: Il figlio di Charles Manson dimostrerà l'innocenza del padre. January 4, 2016. Rolling Stone Italia. 22 December 2015 . it-IT.
  56. Web site: Farley. Michael Anthony. Who Wore it Better? ABMB Edition. January 4, 2016. Art F City.
  57. Web site: At the opening night of the Vector Gallery on 3rd Street. evgrieve.com. 2017-10-30.
  58. News: Official Art Gallery of Satan Comes Back With Its Tail Between Its Legs. Bedford + Bowery. 2017-10-30. en-US.
  59. News: There Was A Fire At Vector Gallery 2Nite. Vector Gallery. 2017-10-30.
  60. Web site: JJ BRINE. JJ BRINE. 2017-10-30.
  61. Web site: Performance at Vector Gallery draws heavy FDNY presence on 3rd Street. evgrieve.com. 2017-10-30.
  62. Web site: Overview for Complaint #:1446945 = CLOSED. a810-bisweb.nyc.gov. 2017-10-30.
  63. Web site: A city inspector want to see if the Vektor Galley is 'being illegally used for religious assembly'. evgrieve.com. 2017-10-30.
  64. Web site: What the devil? Vector Gallery closes on 3rd Street. evgrieve.com. 2017-10-30.
  65. Web site: Vector V Opening. www.facebook.com. en. 2017-10-30.
  66. Web site: The "Official Gallery of Satan" Has Been Reviewed. 27 September 2013 . October 5, 2013. Animal.
  67. Web site: Vector Gallery, Jj Brine Declares, Is "The Capitol Of The Post-Human Art Movement In A State Of Psychic Warfare With The U.S.". dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140302043958/http://posturemag.com/2014/02/05/vectorgallery/. March 2, 2014. February 25, 2013. Posture.
  68. Web site: An Evening With the Antichrist. February 25, 2013. Wine & Bowties.
  69. Web site: Vector Gallery Showcasing At Select Fair During Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 . 4 March 2015. Huffington Post . April 13, 2015.
  70. News: Vector Gallery: The 'Retrial of Charles Manson' - disinformation. 2015-12-26. disinformation. en-US. 2016-10-28.
  71. News: Gay Cult Leader JJ Brine Put a Spell on Kim Davis Broadly. Broadly. en-US. 2016-10-28.
  72. News: Best of The Next: JJ Brine Wonderland Magazine. 2016-01-06. Wonderland Magazine. en-US. 2016-10-28.
  73. News: Provocateur J.J. Brine Stirs Up New York Art Scene. Vilensky. Mike. 2015-05-12. Wall Street Journal. 0099-9660. 2016-10-28.
  74. News: New York's Satanic Vector Gallery Is Closing. 2015-04-05. VICE. en-us. 2016-10-28.
  75. News: Triangles - disinformation. 2016-04-12. disinformation. en-US. 2016-10-28.
  76. News: October 8, 2033: A Conversation with JJ Brine - disinformation. 2016-05-16. disinformation. en-US. 2016-10-28.
  77. Web site: Amanda Bynes Parties With SATANIST JJ Brine. 2021-06-17. Lipstick Alley. 14 November 2014 . en-US.
  78. Web site: 2014-11-14. Amanda Bynes' Wild Night! Actress Visits Restaurants Before Clubbing at Hollywood Hot Spot. 2021-06-17. E! Online.
  79. Web site: 2014-10-10. Amanda Bynes' Newest Friend Thinks He's Satan! Plus, She's Interacting With Sam Lufti - AKA Britney Spears' Breakdown Buddy!. 2021-06-17. Perez Hilton. en-US.
  80. Cerrona, Jericho (March 28, 2012). "President of Mozambique: JJ Brine." Symbiotic Reviews. Retrieved January 16, 2013.

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