Colin Brown’s dazzling and graceful scenes of New York epitomize the energy and allure of the city. He elicits an impactful sense of solitude through his expansive landscapes. The serenity behind Brown’s imagery is contradicted by the arduousness of his process. During his preparation, Brown first applies layers and layers of white gesso to a panel, to which he then adds a black layer of either nickel, carbon, or charcoal. Working diligently with a jeweler’s tool, Brown then removes small amounts of the black layer, revealing the white undercoat. This process of reduction creates the illusion that light does indeed emanate from the city windows, street lamps, and automobile headlights displayed across the panel. Brown’s highly intricate blackboards initially appear to be photographs, but on closer inspection one discovers the driving hand of the artist at work. Brown was born in Ithaca, New York in 1965. He received his B.F.A from the State University of New York at Purchase and his M.A. from New York University at the campus in Venice, Italy. He currently lives and works in New York City.
