Coming this May AR4T Gallery presents Lights Out Beach City, Ben Brough’s new solo show, presented as loud thoughts and after thoughts derived from nomadic journals kept from 1998-2012. Opens May 5, 2012.

Here are 4 Questions with the artist:

1. Will this show touch on your life of travel?
BB: Yes, definitely. I spent a great deal of my youth on the move and truly loved the different places I ended up in. No matter what, it’s influenced me wherever I was – that bar in San Sebastian Spain, getting a new surfboard in west Australia or hanging out on Catalina Island.

2. Why is AR4T the right gallery setting for this show and what are you going to do with it?
BB: Because the ocean is across the street and it’s Lights Out Beach City … I’m going to cover the space with paintings, collages, drawings and some empty wine bottles with the goal of making it all have a nice visual ring to it and making the moment pleasing to all who attend.

3. How does the California landscape influence your work?
BB: California has it all. I do miss Hawaii where I grew up, but you can go from the desert to the beach to the mountains and so many hidden gems all with the greatest of ease in California. The fast-paced consumerist lifestyle mixed with the richness of the laid-back surf history here, I’ve grown to see the great qualities of California.

4. Why delve back to 1998 for your work in this show?
BB: I wanted to put everything out there and somewhat behind me, kind of like an art cleanse. I like to work in different styles usually, and I wanted to see them all together in one room at one time. 1998 is the year I started really spending a lot of time abroad and recording images and fucking off on a professional level and enjoying life. Most of the work prior to this in inaccessible because it’s either with owners or destroyed.