Gallery: Glenn Brown

Glenn Brown - The Gagosian Gallery

Glenn Brown’s exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery showcased seven paintings and two sculptures. His work is very precise and intricate and has been subject to fierce criticism, with some branding his turner nominated painting plagiarism. What is clear from Brown’s paintings is that the process from which Brown borrows an image to the finished piece is long and laborious. Though he may ‘copy’ the work of renowned artists from Dali to Rembrandt, he appears to change their meaning and distort the message while at the same time bringing them to life again. Brown’s work has been described as corpse like with little life in the works; his paintings often have cold hues yet I think they are also lifeless in the way that they are so flat in texture on the board, a technique known as Trompe-l'œil. Not only this but Brown’s technique appears emotionless as if every step that takes Brown away from the original painting or image, takes the subject further into meaningless.

The gallery itself is set over two high-ceilinged and spacious rooms. With walls that are a blank, concrete grey they do not provoke a warm and welcoming atmosphere yet they seem to work well with Brown’s paintings that too appear cold and openness of the space allows the paintings room to breath.


To conclude i found that there were aspects of this exhibition that interested me, i found the process in which Brown develops his work a process that i could possibly use in my own project.