Colin Brown

Colin Brown has an established and ongoing record of research and creative practice. Over the past thirty four years he has built up a strong international career profile, with regular exhibitions of his paintings throughout the UK, Europe and America.

He has spent periods of time living and painting in Europe – including a four month stay in Florence and four years in Düsseldorf. Brown is now based in Stonehaven on the north-east coast of Scotland, where he has his studio.

His paintings have received a number of awards, most notably a major Artist’s Grant from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York in 1996.

In his current work Brown sets up a direct conversation with an artist from a different age – the 18th century Belgian botanical painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté. A single Redouté flower forms the basis of each composition. Brown then alters, paints over and adds collage elements to produce a contemporary response to Redouté’s work. Repeated circular forms, fragments of text, dot patterns and paint splashes become an integral part of the finished painting. Traces of humanity float through these images of nature.

Statement:

My creative process is one of exploration and chance. I go into each painting with no preconceived idea – working initially on building the surface in layers and marking reference points. Gradually a dialogue between the painting and myself is developed and a definite direction is formed. Each element of the work will be constantly examined, considered and reassessed. In the final analysis great importance is placed on the finished surface, balance, structure and rhythm of the painting.

The work evolves naturally year on year, sometimes revisiting old places before moving forward again. In my recent paintings the imagery has become more literal, using a combination of random elements mixed with direct references to investigate allegory and narrative, memory and impurity. Although these works perhaps give more of an indication of personal intentions, they remain open to interpretation by the viewer. The paintings employ a variety of mixed media to explore human histories, random and specific mark making, urban imagery and a mix of personal hand writing and printed script.

My working process involves a range of materials including acrylic and oil paints, collage, glazes and varnishes. The paintings are created on wood panels and utilise more urban colours than the colours of nature. Ultimately they aim to celebrate the spirit of modern culture, the pleasure of finding and using, and the Dada-ist ideal of looking at society in fragments.