Leo Gallery Hong Kong | Brad Brown Solo Exhibition

Leo Gallery | Hong Kong

 

Leo Gallery is delighted to present Brad Brown Solo Exhibition on view from 25 Jan to 21 Mar 2024. The exhibition features two of the most iconic series of abstract works from Brown's career, which represent an accumulation of time, his visual archives on canvas and paper, and his imagination that flows between brushstrokes and colours.

Brown began his series of works on paper, "The Look Stains", in 1987. Simultaneously, he embarked on a parallel journey with a collection of oil paintings on cradled panels known as "Piece", which commenced in 2001. Both projects have intentionally remained in an "unfinished" state ever since, liberating the artist from the confines of traditional notions of completion. No longer restricted by the dichotomy between the states of "completed" and the "incomplete", the artist's daily creations grow and thrive like plants with vitality. Like a comic strip or a slide show, the objects in each painting are connected in a splendid way and respond to each other.

 

Each of Brown's paintings is independent, yet never alone. "The Look Stains" series comprises thousands of paintings arranged into a network of visual information that undergoes constant transformation through the painter's assembly, cutting, pasting, and reorganisation.

 

As a profound statement reflecting his artistic philosophy, Brown once shared during an interview, "Don't look for the end. Once that was decided, I was completely liberated. I could just do anything and allow anything to happen." These words encapsulate Brown's approach to his creative process, emphasising the freedom he finds in abandoning the confines of fixed outcomes. Without having a definitive conclusion, Brown opens himself up to boundless exploration. With this mindset, he fearlessly ventures into embracing the unexpected and allowing his intuition to guide his brush. In his artistic journey, Brown invites viewers to join him in exploring the unknown, to find liberation when we let go of the constraints of expectation.

Join us at Leo Gallery as ‘Brad Brown Solo Exhibition’ promises to be one extraordinary exhibition, serving as a gateway to unlock the expression of your inner world and a transformative breakthrough from the mundane aspects of life.

 

Brad Brown, born in North Carolina in the USA in 1964, earned a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1987. He is currently working and residing in San Francisco.

 

Brown uses unusual approaches in making his work. He works primarily on paintings and works on paper. His projects tend to be expansive, open-ended series that can remain unfinished for years. The largest project to date, The Look Stains, began in 1987 and consists of tens of thousands of works on paper that are continually worked on, torn up, re-drawn, and re-contextualised. Similarly, his painting project, Piece, began in 2001 and consists of hundreds of paintings on wood that are continuously evolving. Brad Brown is not looking for the end of the work, goals, or completion. His interest is in the outcome of accumulations and transformations as the work is pushed through time and images being piled up. 

 

Brown has received grants and awards from the California Arts Council, the Ruth Chenven Foundation, the Western States Art Federation and the Vermont Studio Center. His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (New York City, USA), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco, USA), the National Gallery (Washington DC, USA), Palace of Legion of Honor (San Francisco, USA), Arkansas Museum of Art (Littlerock, USA), Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas (Austin, USA), Art Bank Program, US Department of State (Washington DC, USA), Asheville Art Museum (Asheville, USA), The Columbus Museum (Columbus, USA), CU Art Museum, University of Colorado (Boulder, USA), Williams College Museum of Art (Williamstown, USA), Knoxville Museum of Art (Knoxville, USA), and the Boise Art Museum (Boise, USA), among others.