Roger Brown (artist)
Encyclopedia
Roger Brown was an American artist who was a member of the Chicago Imagists
, a group in the 1960s and 1970s who turned to representational art. His paintings are owned by many of the most important art museums in the US.
He was born in Hamilton, Alabama
and raised in Opelika
. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1962 through 1963 as an undergraduate and 1964 through 1970 as a graduate.
Brown's first art show was with an artist group named "False Image". He credits one of his teachers at the Art Institute, Ray Yoshida
, for his help. Ray helped him to, "put myself into my art", as Brown said. Brown's art has a comic-book style narrative, which is sometimes literally written underneath the image.
Brown donated his three homes and collections to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His Chicago home exists as the Roger Brown Study Collection, a house museum, archive, and special collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His home in New Buffalo, Michigan, designed by his partner the late modernist architect George Veronda, acts as a faculty and staff retreat and is not open to the public. His home in La Conchita, California, designed by Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman, was sold by the school and its collection of art placed in storage. The Spartan Trailer that was on his property in La Conchita is currently on semi-permanent loan to the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles.
The houses contain Brown's art collections, including artworks by many notable Chicago Imagists, naive or primitive art, Outsider art
, found objects from flea markets, and Brown's original furniture and sketchbooks. Much of this art is arranged in the Salon style, where paintings, sculpture, and artifacts cover every conceivable surface area. This is the way that Brown lived with his art collection. The Study Collection, located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood
, is open to school groups, scholars, and the public by appointment.
Chicago Imagists
The Chicago Imagists is the name of a group of representational artists associated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who exhibited at the Hyde Park Art Center in the late 1960s. Their work was known for grotesquerie, surrealism and complete uninvolvement with New York art world trends...
, a group in the 1960s and 1970s who turned to representational art. His paintings are owned by many of the most important art museums in the US.
He was born in Hamilton, Alabama
Hamilton, Alabama
Hamilton is a city in Marion County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 6,786. The city is the county seat of Marion County.-Geography:Hamilton is located at , along the Buttahatchee River....
and raised in Opelika
Opelika, Alabama
Opelika is a city in and the county seat of Lee County in the east central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. According to 2010 Census, the population of Opelika was 26,477...
. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1962 through 1963 as an undergraduate and 1964 through 1970 as a graduate.
Brown's first art show was with an artist group named "False Image". He credits one of his teachers at the Art Institute, Ray Yoshida
Ray Yoshida
Raymond "Ray" Kakuo Yoshida was a Chicago artist known for his paintings and collages, and a teacher at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1959 to 2005...
, for his help. Ray helped him to, "put myself into my art", as Brown said. Brown's art has a comic-book style narrative, which is sometimes literally written underneath the image.
Brown donated his three homes and collections to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His Chicago home exists as the Roger Brown Study Collection, a house museum, archive, and special collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His home in New Buffalo, Michigan, designed by his partner the late modernist architect George Veronda, acts as a faculty and staff retreat and is not open to the public. His home in La Conchita, California, designed by Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman, was sold by the school and its collection of art placed in storage. The Spartan Trailer that was on his property in La Conchita is currently on semi-permanent loan to the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles.
The houses contain Brown's art collections, including artworks by many notable Chicago Imagists, naive or primitive art, Outsider art
Outsider Art
The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...
, found objects from flea markets, and Brown's original furniture and sketchbooks. Much of this art is arranged in the Salon style, where paintings, sculpture, and artifacts cover every conceivable surface area. This is the way that Brown lived with his art collection. The Study Collection, located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
, is open to school groups, scholars, and the public by appointment.
Collections
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston.
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
- Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wisconsin
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
External links
- AbsolutArts
- Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
- Roger Brown Study Collection
- Full biography from The Art Institute of Chicago
- The Roger Brown Memorial Rock House
- Google Street View Roger Brown Study Collection, 1926 N. Halstead, Chicago