Briggs is an artist who has always responded to his environment and drawn on his own experiences.  He was born and raised in Louisiana and schooled in Texas and Colorado.  Early in his career he gained national recognition for acrylic abstractions.  Briggs is considered a “colorist,” and he continually explores new materials and methods in his pursuit of enigmatic color as a means of expression.  He is fascinated by nature, music and a desire to share a positive view of the world.

 

Briggs approaches his work like a scholar, researching each symbolic reference.  His command of paint permits him to execute striking canvases, while his advanced knowledge of printmaking allows him to incorporate chine colle, collage, woodcutting, pochoir, and etching to create painterly, mixed media monotypes on precious papers. 

 

“My approach to art is to open myself visually to the world around me as much as possible—by reading, traveling, collecting and just plain “seeing”.  Music and color ‘flow’ for me.  I paint to music and the music and rhythm speak to me more than any external experience.”

 

Briggs allows images to speak through the tones and timbers of hue, undiluted by form or perspective.  He uses his tools skillfully so his work appears spontaneous and rhythmic.  His painting has developed over a period of three decades from studios around the world; his work has been featured in 137 shows, 62 of those being one-man exhibitions.   His work has been widely published and his paintings are collected worldwide by private collectors, major corporations, and museums.

 

In 2005, Briggs was inducted into the Hall of Fame of The Art Institute of Colorado.  Of many commissions, one of the most interesting was a series of paintings for the interior of a private Boeing 747 aircraft in Switzerland.

 

Selected Collections:

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX

Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, IL                                 

Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary

Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, TX

Rutgers University Archives, Rutgers U., NJ

Rice University, Houston, TX

The University of Texas, Austin, TX

The Moody Foundation Galveston, TX

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Exxon Corporation, Houston, TX

IBM, Los Angeles, CA

Prudential Life Insurance Co., Newark, NJ

Dean Witter Reynolds, New York, NY

Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher, London, England

Petrolair Systems, Geneva, Switzerland

Bristol Myers, New York, NY

Mobil Oil, Houston, TX

Ellen Tracy, New York, NY

Porsche North America/Champion Motors, FL

Proctor and Gamble Co., Cincinnati, OH

Price Waterhouse & Co., Houston, TX

Amoco Production Company, Houston, TX

Strategic Investment, San Francisco, CA