John Brown: “The Visceral Thing”—Painting the Abstract Body in Toronto
John Brown Grimm Grimmbigger Grimmless #5 1999–2001 Collection of Steve & Lynn Smart
John Brown Grimm Grimmbigger Grimmless #5 1999–2001 Collection of Steve & Lynn Smart
Painter John Brown has been a presence on the Toronto art scene since the 1980s. In “The Visceral Thing,” MOCCA has put together a survey of 30 paintings that span 25 years of distinctive artmaking. Known for his slow, meticulous working process, Brown’s attention to detail has made his work widely collected by private individuals, corporations and public institutions across Canada. He has been known to take up to a year to create some paintings and two of his largest works are recent completions for the show. MOCCA director and exhibition curator David Liss says that his exhibition of Brown’s work “embodies the curious yet essential paradoxes of his paintings: they are as straightforward as they are ambiguous. Each picture bears the scars and shadows of the actual history of their own making.”
John Brown July 23, 2037 2005–2006 Collection of John & Christine Burega
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