Henry Brown

Artist Biography

Henry Brown is an abstract painter based in New York City. He constructs geometric images from compass-and-ruler underdrawings to create his perception-based abstractions.

His paintings have been shown widely in the United States. Notable institutional exhibitions include MoMA PS 1 in Queens, NY (2008-2009); Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (2002); Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL (1998) and Dishman Art Gallery, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX (1992).

In New York City, Brown’s paintings have been exhibited at 1285 Avenue of the Americas Gallery (2016); Shirley Fiterman Art Center (2016); Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College (2015); Ventana244 Art Space (2013); White Columns (2003) and Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery, Hunter College (2000).

Internationally his work has been exhibited at Art in Embassies of the U.S. Department of State exhibited his work in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands (2016); Juba, Republic of South Sudan, Africa (2014); ParisCONCRET in Paris, France (2012); and Galerie oqbo in Berlin, Germany (2011).

Brown is the recipient of multiple prestigious artist residencies, including Yaddo (three times), MacDowell, and Millay Arts. Houston Public Radio KUHF’s The Front Row interviewed the painter, about a traveling exhibition curated by Minus Space, Brooklyn, NY, during its run at Gallery Sonja Roesch, Houston, TX (2007).

He has curated large exhibitions, including a 38-artist show at Westbeth Gallery, New York City (2018) and a 24-artist show at Crush Curatorial, Amagansett, NY (2016).

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Paintings

Henry Brown paints geometric images over compass-and-ruler schematics, leaving the underdrawing visible on the gessoed canvas. In these works, he structures repeating patterns with symmetry or modular arrangement. Lattice-like configurations are built on their own organizing principles. Framing elements and interplay with the edges of the picture plane establish spatial relationships. Brown employs a logical and systematic approach as the foundation for his abstraction.

The execution of his brightly colored paintings appears meticulous, but he strays from finished perfection. Close examination reveals the specifics of Brown’s art-making process, providing evidence of his technique. Variations in pencil lines, marks in the knifed finish of the gessoed layer, and eccentricities in painted edges are direct physical traces of Brown’s actions and document his facture. His work is shaped by the details of its making.

Existing as two separate layers, the exposed underdrawings show the planning behind the ordered surfaces. Taken together, the substructure and components on top function as pictorial elements in Henry Brown’s artwork. He combines a physical approach to his work with a visual interpretation grounded in perception-based abstraction. Brown is concerned with both materials and sight, examining what is physically there and what we perceive.

Viewing distance enables perception in Brown’s paintings. Imagery and pictorial space assert themselves, creating tensions that produce the artwork’s bold impact. He triggers perception so that the illusion of depicted depth challenges the flat picture plane. This actively engages the viewer who sees space as multi-dimensional. His pieces are focal points for visual interpretation, prompting examination of one’s own process of seeing.

Brown’s structured layouts read as fixed, but the appearance of depth and movement animates his imagery. Advancing and receding surfaces push the white ground back. Patterns and symmetry shift the viewer’s focus across the canvas. The fixed and dynamic readings coexist creating a visual anomaly. Both space and movement in the paintings appear to be in flux. Henry Brown creates an open system of geometry that presents possibilities; we see complexity beyond initial perception.

John Yau observes, This illusionism destabilizes the painting by transforming what seems to be a flat, static image into something in a state of change. This aspect of Brown’s work distinguishes him from previous generations of geometric artists.(Yau and Potter 2002, 15)

References

• Yau, John, and Ted Potter. Young + Brash + Abstract. Richmond: Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Washington Press, 2002. ISBN 0-935519-25-4.