James Brown (artist)
Encyclopedia
James Brown is an American-born painter now active in Paris
and Oaxaca
(Mexico). He was most well known in the 1980s for his rough painterly semi-figurative paintings, bearing affinities to Jean-Michel Basquiat
and East Village
painting of the time, but with influences from primitive art and classical Western modernism.
from Immaculate Heart College
, Hollywood. He then spent years in Paris, and attended the Ecole Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris, France. He rebelled against the classical training there, which he considered irrelevant, but stayed as he wanted to stay in Paris. Tours of Europe seeing renaissance and especially medieval painting of Italy influenced his work. During the 1980s his paintings, mixing the modernist tradition of painterly application and adherence to the picture surface with clear influences from tribal art. In the early 1980s he began exhibiting in New York, and in this decade this work became a hit in the galleries and art press, sharing a look with the Bad Painting
and young neo-expressionism
of the East Village painters of the time. On the 12th of September 1987 he married Alexandra Condon, who was studying History of Art at NYU at the time. They had know each other for little more than ten years. Despite some time on the East and West coast of New York, he continued to live in Paris. With the fading of the East-Village art scene he had increasingly shown in European galleries, where his work was now seen in the context of a post-war European modernism in the tradition of Jean Dubuffet. James and Alexandra had their first child, Degenhart Maria Grey Brown, on the 24th of September 1989 in New York. In 1991 their second boy, Cosmas And Damian Maria Todosantos Brown, was born on the 6th of June in Paris. On the 16th of April 1993, their daughter was born, Dagmar Maria Jane Brown, in New York. In 1995 he moved out to the valley of Oaxaca (Mexico) with his family, where they lived in a Hacienda for nine years. During this time James Brown continued exhibiting in Europe, the United States and in Mexico. He and his wife collaborated with various artists, making rugs in a village in the mountains of Oaxaca. The rugs were made in the traditional Mexican fashion, weaved by hand on large wooden frames. Jamaes and Alexandra then decided to start making books with artists, so they started Cape Diem Press. Like the rugs, these books are printed in Oaxaca using old-fashioned and traditional methods. The books are printed in limited editions, and Carpe Diem Press continues to collaborate with artists. In 2004 they moved to the city of Mérida, in the Yucatán. Since then James Brown has been spending much time in Europe, exhibiting his work in France, Germany, Italy and Holland. He has been working mostly in Paris.
His work has taken on several styles over the years, but maintains a hand-made look combining concerns of the modernist tradition with motifs and spiritual interests from tribal art. Much of his work is a non-realistic but contains depictions or signs of recognizable faces or objects. More recently he has done more in an abstract mode. However, the line between representation and abstraction is often a difficult one in his work, such as his more recent “Firmament Series” -- abstract canvas’ that can also be read as referring to constellations or stars, or groups of rocks. Besides paintings Brown has also produced sculptures and series of prints at various points in his career, and in the 1990s started to heavily utilize collage. Drawing and other unique works on paper have been important to his artistic development and production. In an Artforum
review of a 25 year retrospective, Martha Schwendener noted "The works range from abstract gouaches to biomorphic and figurative watercolors to collages that update the synthetic Cubist experiments of Picasso and Braque."
1983 Tony Shafrazi, "Champions," New York (Group Show with Donald Baechler
, James Brown, Jean-Michel Basquiat
, Keith Haring
, Kenny Scharf
, Futura 2000
),
1983 Nature Morte, New York
1985 Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland
1986 Leo Castelli, New York, New York
1995 Leo Castelli, February, New York
2001 Pace Prints, February, Catalogue raisonne graphic work. New York
2005 Ex-Escuela Quintana Roo, "James Brown 10 acos en Oaxaca," Mérida, Mexico. (This exhibition traveled internationally)
2007 Galerie Karsten, Greve Paris (Showing his abstract “Firmament Series”)
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
(Mexico). He was most well known in the 1980s for his rough painterly semi-figurative paintings, bearing affinities to Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...
and East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
painting of the time, but with influences from primitive art and classical Western modernism.
Life and work
Born in Los Angeles, California. He received at BFABachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
from Immaculate Heart College
Immaculate Heart College
Immaculate Heart College was a private, Catholic college located in Los Angeles, California.The college was established in 1916 by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ten years after they had founded Immaculate Heart High School on the property....
, Hollywood. He then spent years in Paris, and attended the Ecole Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris, France. He rebelled against the classical training there, which he considered irrelevant, but stayed as he wanted to stay in Paris. Tours of Europe seeing renaissance and especially medieval painting of Italy influenced his work. During the 1980s his paintings, mixing the modernist tradition of painterly application and adherence to the picture surface with clear influences from tribal art. In the early 1980s he began exhibiting in New York, and in this decade this work became a hit in the galleries and art press, sharing a look with the Bad Painting
Bad Painting
"Bad" Painting is the name given to a trend in American figurative painting in the 1970s by critic and curator, Marcia Tucker . She curated an exhibition of the same name, featuring the work of fourteen artists, most unknown in New York at the time, at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York....
and young neo-expressionism
Neo-expressionism
Neo-expressionism is a style of modern painting and sculpture that emerged in the late 1970s and dominated the art market until the mid-1980s...
of the East Village painters of the time. On the 12th of September 1987 he married Alexandra Condon, who was studying History of Art at NYU at the time. They had know each other for little more than ten years. Despite some time on the East and West coast of New York, he continued to live in Paris. With the fading of the East-Village art scene he had increasingly shown in European galleries, where his work was now seen in the context of a post-war European modernism in the tradition of Jean Dubuffet. James and Alexandra had their first child, Degenhart Maria Grey Brown, on the 24th of September 1989 in New York. In 1991 their second boy, Cosmas And Damian Maria Todosantos Brown, was born on the 6th of June in Paris. On the 16th of April 1993, their daughter was born, Dagmar Maria Jane Brown, in New York. In 1995 he moved out to the valley of Oaxaca (Mexico) with his family, where they lived in a Hacienda for nine years. During this time James Brown continued exhibiting in Europe, the United States and in Mexico. He and his wife collaborated with various artists, making rugs in a village in the mountains of Oaxaca. The rugs were made in the traditional Mexican fashion, weaved by hand on large wooden frames. Jamaes and Alexandra then decided to start making books with artists, so they started Cape Diem Press. Like the rugs, these books are printed in Oaxaca using old-fashioned and traditional methods. The books are printed in limited editions, and Carpe Diem Press continues to collaborate with artists. In 2004 they moved to the city of Mérida, in the Yucatán. Since then James Brown has been spending much time in Europe, exhibiting his work in France, Germany, Italy and Holland. He has been working mostly in Paris.
His work has taken on several styles over the years, but maintains a hand-made look combining concerns of the modernist tradition with motifs and spiritual interests from tribal art. Much of his work is a non-realistic but contains depictions or signs of recognizable faces or objects. More recently he has done more in an abstract mode. However, the line between representation and abstraction is often a difficult one in his work, such as his more recent “Firmament Series” -- abstract canvas’ that can also be read as referring to constellations or stars, or groups of rocks. Besides paintings Brown has also produced sculptures and series of prints at various points in his career, and in the 1990s started to heavily utilize collage. Drawing and other unique works on paper have been important to his artistic development and production. In an Artforum
Artforum
Artforum is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art.-Publication:The magazine is published ten times a year, September through May, along with an annual summer issue...
review of a 25 year retrospective, Martha Schwendener noted "The works range from abstract gouaches to biomorphic and figurative watercolors to collages that update the synthetic Cubist experiments of Picasso and Braque."
Exhibitions
James Brown has shown in many galleries from the early 1980s to the present. He has shown across the United States and Europe, as well as other places in the world, and since 1999 increasingly in Mexico. Several of his prints and painteings included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Selected shows include:1983 Tony Shafrazi, "Champions," New York (Group Show with Donald Baechler
Donald Baechler
Donald Baechler is an American artist. He attended the Maryland Institute College of Art from 1974–77, and Cooper Union from 1977-78. Dissatisfied with New York City, he proceeded to the Staatliche Hochschule fuer Bildende Künste Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, Germany."At Cooper Union I met...
, James Brown, Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...
, Keith Haring
Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...
, Kenny Scharf
Kenny Scharf
Kenny Scharf is an American painter who lives in Brooklyn, New York. The artist received his B.F.A in 1980 at the School of Visual Arts located in New York City. Scharf's works consist of popular culture based shows with made up science-related backgrounds...
, Futura 2000
Futura 2000
Futura 2000 is a graffiti artist. He started to paint illegally on New York's subway in the early seventies, working with other artists such as ALI. In the early eighties he showed with Patti Astor at the Fun Gallery, along with Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Hambleton and Kenny Scharf...
),
1983 Nature Morte, New York
1985 Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland
1986 Leo Castelli, New York, New York
1995 Leo Castelli, February, New York
2001 Pace Prints, February, Catalogue raisonne graphic work. New York
2005 Ex-Escuela Quintana Roo, "James Brown 10 acos en Oaxaca," Mérida, Mexico. (This exhibition traveled internationally)
2007 Galerie Karsten, Greve Paris (Showing his abstract “Firmament Series”)
Sources
- Artnet. James Brown on Artnet.
- Eccher, Danilo (curator). James Brown, Milano : Electa, c1995.
- Katz, Vincent. ”James Brown at Fisher Landau Center for Art” Art in America, Dec, 2006.
- Museum of Modern Art. "James Brown" in collection database.
- Studio Raffaelli. James Brown CV, c. 2006.
Selected publications
- Danilo Eccher (curator), James Brown, Milano : Electa, c1995. ISBN 8843552864 ( A 206 page Catalog of an exhibition held at the Galleria civica di arte contemporanea, Trento, Italy, Apr. 22-June 25, 1995.)
- James Brown, suites 1 : monotypes, collages & lithographies. Paris : Atelier Bordas, c1996. ISBN 2911035038
- James Brown : opera contro natura Milano : Skira, c2003. Essays by Renato Barilli and Maurizio Sciaccaluga. ISBN 8884916046
External links
- http://www.artnet.com/artist/3168/james-brown.html
- http://www.artnet.com/Galleries/Artwork_Detail.asp?G=&gid=478&which=&ViewArtistBy=&aid=3168&wid=425314133&source=artist&rta=http://www.artnet.com
- Series of abstract aquatints by Paulson Press, 1990. http://www.paulsonpress.com/artists/brown_james/brown.html
- DADABASE publications search for James Brown: http://arcade.nyarc.org/search~S8/X?james+brown&SORT=D&searchscope=8