Fred Brian: Lake Gogebic Memories and Myths

A World War II pilot, fisherman, artist, printmaker, and educator, Fred B. Brian’s many roles relied on keen observation. While born in Normal, Illinois, in 1924, Brian found creative inspiration in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Summers at the family’s cabin in the Ottawa Forest on Lake Gogebic feature prominently in his work. Brian translates childhood observations into narrative artwork. Stories swapped at the kitchen table and surreal memories of his father placing a fishing boat into the living room for winter storage are the basis of personal myths in his black and white woodcut prints.