James Brown
The art of James Brown is a tortuous journey through the present age. It maps out a vast and complex territory where distinct and contradictory aspects of present day thought live cheek by jowl.
James Brown
Biography
The art of James Brown is a tortuous journey through the present age. It maps out a vast and complex territory where distinct and contradictory aspects of present day thought live cheek by jowl. His oeuvre reflects his awareness of this many layered reality and tells a tale that unfolds in iconic fragments, material remains, sophisticated chromatic schemes, and elegant and mysterious symbols. Everything is built up through accumulation, through sedimentation and the surface discovers its own lined and wrinkled body where the figure hides its own face in order to express the spell woven by enchantment and contemplation. The art of James Brown is an amulet for our times, it is the place of mysteries of Alchemy and the poetic breath of an image that no longer narrates because its gaze knows all its tales.
James and his wife, Alexandra, tragically died in a car crash in Mexico in late February of 2020.
1975 – Master of Arts (MA), Immaculate Heart College, Hollywood
1973-1975 – Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris
1972 – BFA Immaculate Heart College, Hollywood
Exhibitions
2017
“James hd Brown: Life and Work in Mexico”, USC Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles
“Oval”, Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris
“Hommage to Brown Felt”, Proyecto Paralelo, Mexico City
2016
“El Cuarto Rosa”, Galerie Hilario Galguera, Mexico City
2015
“La Vida Profunda”, Fundación de Artistas, Merida (Mexico)
2014
“Upon Darkness”, Livingstone Gallery, The Hague (Netherlands)
2013
“Los Planetas”, Galerie Hilario Galguera, Mexico City
“My Other House”, Museo Diego Rivera Anahuacalli, Mexico City
“84 Thought Forms”, Instituto de Artes Graficas, Oaxaca (Mexico)
2012
“The Space of Variations”, Keitelman Gallery, Brussels
2011
“Firmament”, Galleria de Arte Moderna, Torino
“Eclipse”, Raffaelli, Trento (Italy)
“Paintings on Paper 1985-1990”, Galerie Lelong, Paris
“The Realm of Chaos and Light”, Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris
2010
“Kyoto Drawing”, Akira Ikeda, Berlin
“Stabat Mater”, Chateau Lynch-Bages, Bordeaux
2009
“The Planets Connected”, Galerie Willy Schoots, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
“Communication with the Unknown”, Livingstone Gallery, The Hague, The Netherlands
2007
Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne
“Sculptures et Peintures”, Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris
2006
“Works on Paper, 1981-2005”, Fisher Landau Center for Art, Long Island City, NY
2005
Museum, Merida Juliana Gallery, Seoul
2003
“Gemalde und Skulpturen,” Galerie Sander, Berlin (Germany)
“Graphic Works and Carpe Diem,” Galeria La Caja Negra, Madrid (Spain)
“James Brown,” Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne (Switzerland)
“Le verita` svelate,” Museo di San Severo, Napoli (Italy)
“Le verita` svelate,” Galleria Mimmo Scognamiglio, Napoli (Italy)
“Lead,” Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Malaga (Spain)
“Opera Contra Natura,” Galleria d’Arte, San Marino (Repubblica di San Marino)
2002
“James Brown,” Galerie Jan Wagner, Berlin (Germany)
“Seaweed,” Galeria Charpa, Valencia (Spain)
Retrospective, Centre de la Gravure et de l’Image, La Louvière (Belgium)
“Carpe Diem,” John Hopkins University, Bologna (Italy)
“Or et Plomb,” Couvent des Cordeliers, Paris (France)
“Das graphische Werk,” Galerie Peter Bäumler, Regensburg (Germany)
“Gemälde und Skulpturen,” Galerie Sander, Darmstadt (Germany)
2001
“Graphic Works,” Burton/Marinkovich Fine Art, Washington (USA)
“James Brown,” Obalne Galerjia, Piran (Slovenia)
“Works on Paper 1981-98,” Galleria d’Arte A&A, Venezia (Italy)
“The Eye of the Violet,” Grant Selwyn Fine Art, New York (USA)
“The Substance of Shadow,” Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm (Sweden)
“New Graphic Works,” Pace Gallery, New York (USA)
“Litografie-Incisioni-Monotipi,” Galleria Franco Masoero, Torino (Italy)
“Vincent Katz Poetry,” Juliana Gallery, Seoul (South Korea)
“Prints-Paintings-Ceramics,” Ralph Pucci, New York (USA)
“James Brown,” Bodega-Quetzalli, Oaxaca (Mexico)
“Works on Paper,” Galerie Berndt Klüser, München (Germany)
2000
“Impressions 1987-99,” Galerie Pierre Tal-Coat, Hennebont (France)
“Catalogue Raisonné,” Librairie Les Arcades, Paris (France)
“James Brown,” Galleria Nova, Ronco/Ascona (Switzerland)
“Works on Paper 1981-98,” Kunstsammlungen, Chemnitz (Germany)
“Works on Paper 1981-98,” Pfalzgalerie, Kaiserslautern (Germany)
“James Brown,” Paule Anglim Gallery, San Francisco (USA)
“Œuvres sur papier 1981-98,” La Maison des Arts, Malakoff (France)
“Internal Order,” Dorothy Blau Gallery, Bay Harbor Islands (USA)
“James Brown,” Smallworks Gallery, Las Vegas (Usa)
“Paintings from Mexico,” Galleria Bonomo, Bari (Italy)
1999
“Disappeared and Reappeared ed altre litografie,” Galerie Prova d’Artista, Venezia (Italy)
“Internal Order,” Galerie Lelong, Paris (France)
“Œuvres sur papier 1981-98,” Musée d’Art Moderne, Céret (France)
“James Brown,” Galleria In Arco e Galleria Raffaelli, Torino (Italy)
“Internal Order,” Ace Gallery, Mexico City (Mexico)
“Œuvres recentes,” Centre d’Art Contemporain Bouvet-Ladubay, Saumur (France)
1998
“Souvenir-Monotypes-Prints&Artistbooks,” Living Stone Gallery, Den Haag (The Netherlands)
“Selected Paintings and Works on Paper,” Serge Sorokko Gallery, New York (USA)
“Peintures recentes,” Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne (Switzerland)
“James Brown, Scognamiglio & Teano,” Napoli (Italy)
1997
“The Story of the Stone,” LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Trieste (Italy)
“Recent Paintings,” Serge Sorokko Gallery, San Francisco (USA)
1996
“Recent Painting & Sculpture,” Earl McGrath Gallery, New York (USA)
“Graphic Works,” Visconti Fine Art Kolizej, Ljubljana (Slovenia)
“Graphic Works,” Centre Culturel Français, Ljubljana (Slovenia)
“Opere Recenti,” Ciocca-Raffaelli, Milano-Trento (Italy)
“Blue Paintings (The Fourteen Stations),” Galerie Bäumler, Regensburg (Germany)
“James Brown,” Galleria Bonomo, Roma (Italy)
1995
“The Moroccan Images,” Hartman and Company, La Jolla (USA)
“Peintures et Aquarelles Recentes,” Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne (Switzerland)
“Works on Paper 1995,” Brian Kish Office for Architecture & Art, New York (USA)
“Selected Works,” LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Trieste (Italy)
“Paintings-Collages-Gouaches 1995,” Galleria Bonomo, Bari (Italy)
“Recent Works,” Leo Castelli Gallery, New York (USA)
“Recent Works,” Galerie Samuel Lallouz, Montreal (Canada)
“James Brown,” Galleria Civica d’Arte Contemporanea, Trento (Italy)
“The Terrifying Image,” Galerie Lelong, Paris (France)
“James Brown,” Espace Kiron, Paris (France)
1994
“The Moroccan: Paintings, Prints and Sculptures,” Connaught Brown Gallery, London (UK)
“Sciences Naturelles au Maroc,” Galerie Meltem, Casablanca (Morocco)
“Bilder und Collagen,” Galerie Bernd Kluser, Münich (Germany)
“James Brown,” Galerie Ribbentrop, Eltville Am Rhein (Germany)
“1980’s,” Galerie Kaj Forsblom, Zurich (Switzerland)
“James Brown,” Gallery Akira Ikeda, Nagoya (Japan)
1993
“James Brown,” Galerie Peter Baumler, Regensburg (Germany)
“James Brown,” Galleria Bonomo, Bari (Italy)
“James Brown,” Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York (Usa)
“James Brown,” Galerie Holtmann, Köln (Germany)
“James Brown,” Galerie Athisma, Lyon (France)
