Lonesome Whistle

SOCO Gallery

Lonesome Whistle is inspired by the 1951 Hank Williams’ song about the sound of a train passing in the distance. The majority of the paintings featured in the exhibition were created by the artist in Corsicana, Texas during a residency at the Corsicana Artist and Writer Residency from October to December 2024. Brennan Hinton often heard the freight train that passes through the small Texas town, all through the day and night, blowing its horn much like Williams describes. The sound at first kept him up at night, but soon became a constant in his everyday life.

Brennan Hinton imagines the train whistle as a metaphor for the experience of being away from home–with alert eyes and ears that make you pay intense attention to your surroundings. He adds “a lot of the paintings have come out of this state of alertness, trying to capture the moments throughout a day that often pass unnoticed.” The artist’s practice relies heavily on this sentiment – he paints en plein air, using his senses and observations to find beauty in the small moments that pass us by.

This body of work showcases Brennan Hinton’s exploration and thoughtful consideration of the area, capturing unique subjects like the rare sighting of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) that was visible in October in Corsicana Comet. Other paintings reveal angled street views, oil tanks, window reflections, or direct views from his studio or bedroom window. In Pink Skies, the evening glow of the sunset contrasts with shadows forming inside a room filled with a table adorned with coffee mugs. Brennan Hinton’s compositions are quiet, cropped, and sensational. His curious perception of the world is evident in his careful brushstrokes and his ability to sit still and notice the world around him.

A few paintings in the exhibition were created in his Toronto studio prior to the residency, which is also on a train track, allowing the “Lonesome Whistle” to be a connecting thread through the entire body of work.