Alex Brown: Nobody Knows This is Somewhere
20 May – 17 July 2010
5 rue de la Muse
1205 Geneva, Switzerland
T +41 (0)22 544 95 95
F +41 (0)22 544 95 99
muse [at] bfasblondeau.com
On 20 May 2010, to coincide with the “Nuit des Bains” in Geneva, BFAS Blondeau Fine Art Services is delighted to present an exhibition by the American artist Alex Brown, entitled Nobody Knows This is Somewhere, at its space at 5 rue de la Muse.
Amid the flurry of Byzantine mosaics and pixelated digital images, the optical illusions of Op Art and the Impressionists’ exploration of light, the secrets of Brown’s paintings do not immediately reveal themselves. The pictures are at once abstract and figurative. Portraits and landscapes emerge from the depths of the canvas only after sustained attention. Brown’s method involves superimposing several images in order to form a new one. To this end, he appropriates images from postcards, travel brochures, press-cuttings or photos found on the internet. The organic paintings – such as Occupied Europe – are made of successive layers in which a first image forms a sort of patchwork from whose contours a second image comes into being. In the geometric paintings, by contrast, a filter is applied to the image, which is pixelated by adopting a hard-line pattern; this is the method used in Song. The result of this systematic fragmentation of light and image is a form of near-hallucinatory painting that alters the spectator’s perception, challenging his imagination to reconstruct its subjects.
This exhibition has been organized in collaboration with Feature Inc., New York.
Alex Brown was born in 1966. He lives and works in Des Moines, Iowa.
The artist was interviewed by Hudson of Feature, Inc., New York for his exhibition. The interview is available on www.bfasblondeau.com
Press packs and HD illustrations are available on request.
Please contact philippe [at] bfasblondeau.com for any further enquiries.
Image above:
Alex Brown
Evening Time, 2010
Oil paint on canvas, 97.8 x 101.6 cm.
