Christopher Brown paints scenes drawn from memory. His large canvases are populated with figures, objects and vistas that the artist continually reuses. Many of the images emanate from photographs that Brown has taken over the years; many reside only in the artist’s own recollection. Although Brown is primarily a figurative artist, he is not a realist. Many of his paintings involve formal examinations of scale and depth. Space in Brown’s canvases is often irrational, an almost dream-like landscape where the boundaries between representation and abstraction are tested. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Oakland Museum of Art, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The de Young Museum, California, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York among others. The artist is represented by the John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco, California and Edward Thorp Gallery, New York.
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- 2008
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- 2004
- 2001
Born 1951 in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Lives and works in Berkeley, California.
EDUCATION
MFA, University of California at Davis, 1976
BFA University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, 1973
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017
Christopher Brown: The Waters Sliding, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015
The Armory Show, John Berggruen Gallery Booth 204, New York, NY
2012
Recent Paintings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2011
New Paintings, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, NY
2010
A Gardener's Notebook, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008
Recent Paintings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, CA
2006
Buildings, Birds, and Box Cars, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005
Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, CA
2004
Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, CA
Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2002
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001
Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2000
Andria Friesen Gallery, Seattle, WA
1999
Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
1998
Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Edward Thorpe Gallery, New York, NY
1997
Christopher Brown: Recent Paintings and Pastels, Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Artist in Residence & Exhibition, Pasadena City College Art Gallery, Pasadena, CA
Christopher Brown: Works on Paper, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
1996
Christopher Brown: Works on Paper, Fisher Gallery, University of Southern California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
1995
History and Memory: Paintings by Christopher Brown, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX (Traveled to: San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA)
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
The Palm Springs Desert Museum, CA
Norton Gallery, West Palm Beach, CA
Christopher Brown: Recent Paintings & Related Prints, Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Christopher Brown - Recent Paintings, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1994
Christopher Brown: A Print Survey, Graystone Gallery, San Francisco, CA
New Etchings, Crown Point Press, San Francisco, CA
1993
Yellowstone Art Center, Billings, MT
Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1992
Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1991
Crown Point Press, San Francisco, CA
1990
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
1988
Christopher Brown: The Water Paintings 1976-87, Center for Research in Contemporary Art, University of Texas at Arlington.
Richard H. Reynolds Gallery, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA
1987
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
1986
Jan Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
1985
Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Matrix Gallery, University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
1984
Art Gallery, Shasta College, Redding, CA
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
1983
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
1982
American River College Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA
1980
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
1979
deSaisset Art Gallery, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, CA
1977
Loeb Rhodes Market Hours Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
Artist's Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017
The Human Form, Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Summer Choices: A Group Exhibition, Crown Point Press, San Francisco, CA
2016
Passing Through Minnesota Street, Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
House or Home: Architectural Form in the Print, Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, CA
COLLECT: WORKS FROM THE SECONDARY MARKET, William Campbell Contemporary Art, Inc., Fort Worth, TX
2015
Summer Choices, Crown Point Press, San Francisco, CA
Duo: A Group Show, Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, CA
2014
Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, Idaho
HORROR STORY: Eight Artists Engage with Mass Culture through Traumatic Imagery, Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, CA
2010
Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, California
2009
Volunteer Voices: Selections from the Collection of the Kemper Museum, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
Horn of Plenty - Viktor Wynd Fine Art, London, England
California College of the Arts Faculty Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
Speak for the Trees, Andrea Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
2007
Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
2005
Artists and Mentors, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004
Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2003
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2002
Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
2001
Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Prints from Paulson Bott Press, Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, CA
2000
The Anderson Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Prints from the Anderson Collection, Achenbach Foundation, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
Abstraction from Raucous to Refined, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek Art Center, Walnut Creek, CA
The Great Novel Exhibition, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
1999
Large Paintings, Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1998
Prints from Paulson Bott Press, Traywick Gallery, Berkeley, CA
1997
35 Years at Crown Point Press, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California
Gallery Group Exhibition, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
Six Bay Area Painters, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA
Past Time, The Wood Street Galleries, Pittsburgh, PA
1996
48th Annual Purchase Exhibition, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
Fall Gallery Group, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
The Birder's Log, I Space, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
1995
Duck!,Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
View/Review: Celebrating…, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS
Narrative, James Graham & Sons, New York, NY
Works on Paper, Jan Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1994
Waterworks, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
Lyricism & Light, Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto. CA
New Etchings, Crown Point Press, San Francisco, CA
1993
Five Painters, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
Gallery Group Exhibition, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
California North and South, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO
Bay Area Tradition: Robert Bechtle, Christopher Brown, Wayne Thiebaud, Crown Point Press, San Francisco, CA
Eye on the Figure, LewAllen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1992
Gallery Group Exhibition, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
The Figure: Two Bay Area Artists, Johnson Community College, Overland Park, KS
1991
A Palette of Vision, Alza Corporation, Palo Alto, CA
Art for your Collection, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1990
In the Realm of the Plausible, Shea & Beker Gallery, New York, NY
1989
10 + 10: Contemporary Soviet and American Painters, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX (Traveled to: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA)
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Artist's Union Hall of the Tretyakov Embankment, Moscow, Russia
Tsentralnyi Zal Khudozhnikov, Tbilisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
Tsentralnyi Zystavochnyi Zal, Leningrad, Russion Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Blum Helman, Los Angeles, CA
Substance/Surface, Robert Else Gallery, Sacramento State University, Sacramento, CA
Prints from the Experimental Workshop, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Prints and Multiples from the Experimental Workshop, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Chicago International Arts Exposition, Chicago, IL
Drew Beattie, Christopher Brown, Squeak Carnwath, Deborah Oropallo, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Diamonds Are Forever, Artists and Writers on Baseball, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
1988
Award's Recipients' Exhibition, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
Chicago International Arts Exposition, Chicago, IL
Painting and Sculpture by Candidates for Awards, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
1987
Bay Area Artists Small Works Invitational, Janet Steinberg Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Importance of Drawing, Fuller Goldeen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Awards in the Visual Arts #6, Award Exhibition, Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, NY
Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA
Under Currents, Portland Center for the Visual Arts, Portland, OR
1986
The Second Newport Biennial: The Bay Area, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA
New Painterly Figuration in the Bay Area, Art Gallery, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA (Traveled to: San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA)
Chicago International Arts Exposition, Chicago, IL
Current, Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle, WA
American Realism, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
New Works on Paper, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
1985
New Romantic Landscape, Works Gallery, Long Beach, CA
Summer Show, Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL
1984
New Romantic Landscape, Works Gallery, Long Beach, CA
Bathers, Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, NY
California: 20 Artists, Bluxome Gallery, San Francisco, CA
San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
Euphrat Gallery, De Anza College, Cupertino, CA
San Francisco Bay Area Painting, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NB
Baseball Card Portraits of the Oakland A's Team, Fuller Goldeen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1983
Kirk de Gooyer Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Chicago International Arts Exposition, Chicago, IL
Bon a Tirer: Selected Prints for Bay Area Fine Arts Presses, de Saisset Museum, University of Santa Clara, CA
Dealer's Choice, Kirk di Gooyer Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1982
Fresh Paint: Fifteen California Painters, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
Drew Beattie/Christopher Brown/Jay DeFeo/Hassel Smith, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Figurative Drawings, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1981
Shasta College, Redding, CA
1980
Faculty Exhibition, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
1979
New Images - Bay Area, The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
1978
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Faculty Exhibition, American River College, Sacramento, CA
1977
Introductions, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Roland Peterson - Christopher Brown, Artists Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Selected Graduates, University of California, Davis, CA
1976
Table Show, Artists Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Faculty Exhibition, American River College, Sacramento, CA
HONORS & AWARDS
1988
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, Award in Art
1987
National Endowment for the Arts Grant in Painting
1986
Award in the Visual Arts given by the Equitable and Rockefeller Foundations with partial support from the National Endowment for the Arts
1985
Eureka Fellowship, The Mortimer Fleishhacker Foundation, San Francisco, California
1984
Regents Junior Faculty Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley, California
1981
National Endowment for the Arts Special Projects Grant in Art Criticism
1979
National endowment for the Arts Special Projects Grant in Art Criticism
1978-1979
DAAD Grant, guest artist affiliation with the Academy of Art in Munich
1974-1975
Mary C. McLellan Scholarship for independent study and traveled in Europe
1973-1976
Regents’ Fellowship, University of California, Davis, California
Christopher Brown
Arrival
2010
Color spitbite aquatint,
aquatint and softground etching
Somerset white paper
Image size: 23" x 36"
Paper size: 33" x 45"
Edition of 40
Christopher Brown
Trackside
2010
Color spitbite aquatint,
aquatint and softground etching
Somerset white paper
Image size: 10" x 30"
Paper size: 19" x 38"
Edition of 40
Christopher Brown
Clear Sky
2008
Color softground etching, aquatint and spitbite aquatint with scrape and burnish.
Somerset textured white paper
Image size: 28" x 24"
Paper size: 38 ½" x 33"
Edition of 35
Christopher Brown
Corner
2008
Color softground etching, with aquatint and scape and burnish.
Somerset textured soft white paper
Image size: 20" x 16"
Paper size: 27 ½" x 22 ½"
Edition of 20
Christopher Brown
Duck and Eggs No. 4
2008
Color softground etching, handpainting, scrape and burnish.
Somerset textured soft white paper
Image size: 26" x 20"
Paper size: 22 ½" x 26"
Edition Variée of 20
Christopher Brown
Duck Plate
2008
Color softground etching with spitbite aquatint and scrape and burnish.
Somerset textured soft white paper
Image size: 20" x 16"
Paper size: 27 ½" x 22 ½"
Edition of 20
Christopher Brown
Fenced In
2008
Color softground etching with scrape and burnish.
Somerset textured soft white paper
Image size: 20" x 16"
Paper size: 27 ½" x 22 ½"
Edition of 20
Christopher Brown
Statue
2008
Color softground etching with scrape and burnish.
Somerset textured soft white paper
Image size: 20" x 16"
Paper size: 27 ½" x 22 ½"
Edition of 20
Christopher Brown
Red Square
2008
Color softground etching with scrape and burnish.
Somerset textured soft white paper
Image size: 20" x 16"
Paper size: 27 ½" x 22 ½"
Edition of 20
Christopher Brown
Iron & Wood
2004
Color soap ground, soft ground
and spitbite aquatint etching
with roulette and scrape and burnish
Somerset white textured paper
Image size: 26" x 25"
Paper size: 35" x 33"
Edition of 40
Christopher Brown
Satori
2004
Color soap ground, soft ground
and spitbite aquatint etching with
roulette and scrape and burnish
Somerset white textured paper
Image size: 22" x 22"
Paper size: 31" x 30"
Edition of 40
Christopher Brown
Steeplechase
2004
Color soft ground, and spitbite
aquatint etching with drypoint,
scrape and burnish
Somerset white paper
Image size: 30" x 22"
Paper size: 39" x 30"
Edition of 40
Christopher Brown
Fourth Gate
2001
Color softground etching with aquatint, soapground and spitbite aquatints, drypoint, roulette and scrape and burnish.
Image size: 36" x 27 ¼"
Paper size: 46" x 36 ¼"
Edition of 35
Christopher Brown
Sea of Oh
2001
Color softground etching with aquatint, soapground and spitbite aquatints, drypoint, roulette and scrape and burnish.
Image size: 36" x 27 ¼"
Paper size: 46" x 36 ¼"
Edition of 35