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Roger Brown
Down Down Down, 1986Oil on canvas72 x 48 x 2 1/2 in
182.9 x 121.9 x 6.3 cm4859Roger Brown (b.1941—d.1997) is renowned for using a pop aesthetic to investigate a range of socio-political issues. His trademark silhouettes and curvilinear landscapes depict both the topical and uncomfortable. His...Roger Brown (b.1941—d.1997) is renowned for using a pop aesthetic to investigate a range of socio-political issues. His trademark silhouettes and curvilinear landscapes depict both the topical and uncomfortable. His work is of startling contemporary relevance, cleverly approaching many topics from the natural and built environment, disaster, religion, the art world, popular culture, art history, eroticism, and socio-political concerns from modern warfare to mortality during the HIV/AIDS crisis. Rich in content and innovative in methods of depiction, Brown presaged the subjective and surreal figuration seen in many threads of recent painting.
In this painting, Brown shows a multitude of figures spiraling downward into a hypnotic tunnel, flanked by repetitions of the word "down," simultaneously recalling everything from failure and disappointment, to the thrill ride down an amusement park slide, to Lewis Carroll’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the notion of going "down the rabbit hole" of over analyses.
During Brown's lifetime, art dealer Phyllis Kind was his exclusive representative, and she was the first to exhibit his work in 1971.
Artist Biography:
Brown’s career abounded with solo and group shows internationally, and notable retrospectives of his work were shown by the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in 1980, and at the Hirshhorn Museum in 1987. Recent exhibitions include Roger Brown: Hyperframe at Kavi Gupta gallery in Chicago, and Roger Brown: VIrtual Still Lifes at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. The Roger Brown Study Collection, maintained by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with curator Lisa Stone, makes Brown’s prolific art collection and archive available to the public.Brown’s political paintings were recently featured at DC Moore Gallery, New York and his Virtual Still Life works were highlighted in a solo exhibition at Maccarone, New York. Brown received his BFA and his MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.Exhibitions
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014 Roger Brown: His American Icons, Hughes Gallery, Sydney, Australia, March 22 - April 14
2013 Roger Brown, DC Moore Gallery, New York City, NY, January 8 - February 2
2012 Roger Brown: This Boy’s Own Story, Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, August 24 – November 10 Dual exhibition, Roger Brown: Major Paintings, Russell Bowman Art Advisory, Chicago, IL and Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL, September 7 - October 27
2011 Roger Brown: Calif. U.S.A., Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL, June 20 – October 3
2011 roger brown: urban traumas and natural disasters, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO, September 17 - November 13[28]
2009 Roger Brown: Early Work, Major Paintings and Constructions, 1968-1980, Russell Bowman Art Advisory, Chicago, IL, March 27 – May 16
2009 Roger Brown, Art Works: Chicago A Progressive Corporate Exhibition of Chicago Artists, Metropolitan Capital Bank, Chicago, IL
2008 Roger Brown: The American Landscape, DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY, May 1 – June 13
2007-2008 Roger Brown: Southern Exposure, curated by Sidney Lawrence, The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, AL, October 6, 2007 – January 5, 2008. Traveled to: The Katzen Arts Center, College of Arts and Sciences, American University, Washington, DC, February 5 - March 22, 2008; The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, University of New Orleans, LA, April 19 – July 31, 2008
2006 Roger Brown: The Last Paintings, Russell Bowman Art Advisory, Chicago, IL, April 21 – June 17
2005 Roger Brown: From the Collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC, February 1–April 15
2004-2005 Roger Brown Paintings, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY, December 3, 2004 – January 15 2004 Roger Brown: A Different Dimension, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, AL, April 10 – June 6. Traveled to: Chicago Cultural Center, IL, July 17 – September 26 2004 Roger Brown: Selections from the Collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University, IN, October 15 – December 26 2003 Roger Brown, Chicago Imagist: Selected Works from the Roger Brown Study Collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN, April – June 1
2001 Roger Brown: Great Lakes Selections from the Collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN
2001 Recollections and Observations: The Prints of Roger Brown, Joel and Carole Bernstein Gallery, Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, IL, July 14 – September 2
1999 Roger Brown Paintings from the SAIC Collection, The University Club of Chicago, IL 1997 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, September 19
1996 Roger Brown: California Dreamin’, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
1996 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, February 2 - March 5
1995 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, April 1 - May 6
1994 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, April 8 - May 6
1992 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, March 28 - April 28
1991 Roger Brown: New Paintings, Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, January 25 - March 9 1991 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, April 12 - May 7
1991 Who is Roger Brown?: A Tribute to Roger Brown Performance Series, Lewis Cooper Jr. Memorial Library and Arts Center, The Opelika Arts Association, Opelika, AL, October 18 - November 8
1990 Roger Brown: Recent Work, David Heath Gallery, Atlanta, GA, March 7 - April 20
1990 “Roger Brown”, Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA, November 3–24[29] 1990 Roger Brown, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1989 Roger Brown: Recent Painting, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, September 16 - October 11 1989 Roger Brown, Hege Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC 1988 Roger Brown, Asher/Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, January 16 - February 13
1988 Roger Brown and Published Works, Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, FL, February 10 - March 27
1988 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, April 1 - May 3
1988 Roger Brown, Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1988 Roger Brown, Des Moines Art Center, IA, April 28
1987-88 Roger Brown: A Retrospective, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., August 12 - October 18. Traveled to: La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA, November 20, 1987 - January 10, 1988; Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, February 11 - March 27; Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, April 28 - June 12,
1988 1987 Roger Brown, Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C., September 10 - October 10
1987 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York, NY, September 10 - October 10
1987 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery and George Braziller, Inc, New York, NY 1986-87 Roger Brown: Recent Paintings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA, November 25, 1986 - January 3, 1987
1986 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL 1985 Roger Brown, Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, June 18 - July 10
1985 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, September 14
1984 Roger Brown: A Selected Retrospective, Nexus Gallery, Atlanta, GA, May 3 - June 10. Traveled to: University of Florida, Tampa, FL, August 3 - September 15; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, September 29 - December 2
1984 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY
1983 Roger Brown, Asher/Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, September 17 - October 16
1983 Roger Brown, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
1982 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, September 14
1981 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, April 14
1981 Roger Brown: Recent Paintings, Mayor Gallery, London, England, November 24 - December 18
1981 Roger Brown Retrospective,[30] Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, February 14 - April 12 1981 Roger Brown, Muzeum Narodowym, Warsaw, Poland
1980-1981 Roger Brown, Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL, October 5 - November 23. Traveled to: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX, December 12, 1980 - January 19, 1981; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, April 13 - May 12 1980 Currents 6: Roger Brown, Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, March 25 - May 11.[31] Traveled as “Roger Brown. Matrix/Berkeley 35” to: University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, CA, May 28 - July 27. 1979 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 2 - April 4 1979 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, September 18 - October 27 1977 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, September 20 - October 15 1977 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, February 4 - March 9 1976 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 10–24 1975 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, October 3–25 1975 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, January 10 - February 1974 Roger Brown, Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, France, September 26 - October 31 1973 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, January 5 - February 1971 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 17 - April 12
COLLECTIONS
Akron Museum of Art, Akron, OH The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA Lowe Art Museum Coral Gables, Florida Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, AL Museum Boymans, Rotterdam, Netherlands Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Nelson Atkins Museum of Fine Art, Kansas City, MO Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014 Roger Brown: His American Icons, Hughes Gallery, Sydney, Australia, March 22 - April 14
2013 Roger Brown, DC Moore Gallery, New York City, NY, January 8 - February 2
2012 Roger Brown: This Boy’s Own Story, Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, August 24 – November 10 Dual exhibition, Roger Brown: Major Paintings, Russell Bowman Art Advisory, Chicago, IL and Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL, September 7 - October 27
2011 Roger Brown: Calif. U.S.A., Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL, June 20 – October 3
2011 roger brown: urban traumas and natural disasters, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO, September 17 - November 13[28]
2009 Roger Brown: Early Work, Major Paintings and Constructions, 1968-1980, Russell Bowman Art Advisory, Chicago, IL, March 27 – May 16
2009 Roger Brown, Art Works: Chicago A Progressive Corporate Exhibition of Chicago Artists, Metropolitan Capital Bank, Chicago, IL
2008 Roger Brown: The American Landscape, DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY, May 1 – June 13
2007-2008 Roger Brown: Southern Exposure, curated by Sidney Lawrence, The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, AL, October 6, 2007 – January 5, 2008. Traveled to: The Katzen Arts Center, College of Arts and Sciences, American University, Washington, DC, February 5 - March 22, 2008; The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, University of New Orleans, LA, April 19 – July 31, 2008
2006 Roger Brown: The Last Paintings, Russell Bowman Art Advisory, Chicago, IL, April 21 – June 17
2005 Roger Brown: From the Collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC, February 1–April 15
2004-2005 Roger Brown Paintings, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY, December 3, 2004 – January 15 2004 Roger Brown: A Different Dimension, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, AL, April 10 – June 6. Traveled to: Chicago Cultural Center, IL, July 17 – September 26 2004 Roger Brown: Selections from the Collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University, IN, October 15 – December 26 2003 Roger Brown, Chicago Imagist: Selected Works from the Roger Brown Study Collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN, April – June 1
2001 Roger Brown: Great Lakes Selections from the Collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN
2001 Recollections and Observations: The Prints of Roger Brown, Joel and Carole Bernstein Gallery, Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, IL, July 14 – September 2
1999 Roger Brown Paintings from the SAIC Collection, The University Club of Chicago, IL 1997 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, September 19
1996 Roger Brown: California Dreamin’, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
1996 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, February 2 - March 5
1995 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, April 1 - May 6
1994 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, April 8 - May 6
1992 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, March 28 - April 28
1991 Roger Brown: New Paintings, Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, January 25 - March 9 1991 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, April 12 - May 7
1991 Who is Roger Brown?: A Tribute to Roger Brown Performance Series, Lewis Cooper Jr. Memorial Library and Arts Center, The Opelika Arts Association, Opelika, AL, October 18 - November 8
1990 Roger Brown: Recent Work, David Heath Gallery, Atlanta, GA, March 7 - April 20
1990 “Roger Brown”, Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA, November 3–24[29] 1990 Roger Brown, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1989 Roger Brown: Recent Painting, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, September 16 - October 11 1989 Roger Brown, Hege Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC 1988 Roger Brown, Asher/Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, January 16 - February 13
1988 Roger Brown and Published Works, Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, FL, February 10 - March 27
1988 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, April 1 - May 3
1988 Roger Brown, Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1988 Roger Brown, Des Moines Art Center, IA, April 28
1987-88 Roger Brown: A Retrospective, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., August 12 - October 18. Traveled to: La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA, November 20, 1987 - January 10, 1988; Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, February 11 - March 27; Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, April 28 - June 12,
1988 1987 Roger Brown, Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C., September 10 - October 10
1987 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York, NY, September 10 - October 10
1987 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery and George Braziller, Inc, New York, NY 1986-87 Roger Brown: Recent Paintings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA, November 25, 1986 - January 3, 1987
1986 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL 1985 Roger Brown, Texas Gallery, Houston, TX, June 18 - July 10
1985 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, September 14
1984 Roger Brown: A Selected Retrospective, Nexus Gallery, Atlanta, GA, May 3 - June 10. Traveled to: University of Florida, Tampa, FL, August 3 - September 15; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, September 29 - December 2
1984 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY
1983 Roger Brown, Asher/Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, September 17 - October 16
1983 Roger Brown, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
1982 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, September 14
1981 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, April 14
1981 Roger Brown: Recent Paintings, Mayor Gallery, London, England, November 24 - December 18
1981 Roger Brown Retrospective,[30] Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, February 14 - April 12 1981 Roger Brown, Muzeum Narodowym, Warsaw, Poland
1980-1981 Roger Brown, Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL, October 5 - November 23. Traveled to: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX, December 12, 1980 - January 19, 1981; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, April 13 - May 12 1980 Currents 6: Roger Brown, Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, March 25 - May 11.[31] Traveled as “Roger Brown. Matrix/Berkeley 35” to: University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, CA, May 28 - July 27. 1979 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 2 - April 4 1979 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, September 18 - October 27 1977 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, September 20 - October 15 1977 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, February 4 - March 9 1976 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 10–24 1975 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York City, NY, October 3–25 1975 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, January 10 - February 1974 Roger Brown, Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, France, September 26 - October 31 1973 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, January 5 - February 1971 Roger Brown, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 17 - April 12
COLLECTIONS
Akron Museum of Art, Akron, OH The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA Lowe Art Museum Coral Gables, Florida Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, AL Museum Boymans, Rotterdam, Netherlands Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Nelson Atkins Museum of Fine Art, Kansas City, MO Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY
