Eliot Circular

Character Sketch

Brad Kahlhamer, Sketchbook, ca. 2015, Ink, paint, pencil, and mixed media on Moleskine notebook.
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery. Photo by Evan La Londe

Brad Kahlhamer

Brad Kahlhamer Photo by Maggie Shannon

For some people, the humble sketchbook serves as a diary or a place to take notes. For artist Brad Kahlhamer, the sketchbook is a nomadic studio, a book of moments in which he captures divergent geographies, myths, and cultures. 

Through December 15, the Cooley Gallery is exhibiting more than 40 works of his sculpture, painting, and drawing, including his sketchbooks. Kahlhamer’s drawing connects deeply to punk, comics, and graphic novels, and he has called the ledger art of the Plains Indians “the first American graphic novels.”