{"id":291,"date":"2021-03-01T07:23:01","date_gmt":"2021-02-28T23:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/?p=291"},"modified":"2021-03-01T10:08:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T02:08:55","slug":"irresistibly-weird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/","title":{"rendered":"IRRESISTIBLY WEIRD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bay Area artist\u00a0Joan Brown<\/a>, who died in 1990 at age fifty-two, produced a vast body of figurative paintings with an offbeat, vernacular appeal. This exhibition at\u00a0Venus Over Manhattan<\/a>\u00a0featured a dozen of Brown\u2019s dazzling canvases, primarily from the 1970s, characterized by dreamily composed scenes and highly stylized figures.<\/p>\n

Brown emerged within San Francisco\u2019s Beat and burgeoning \u201cFunk\u201d art scenes of the 1960s, alongside friends such as Jay DeFeo, Bruce Conner, and Wallace Berman. She and her cohort took pride in flouting the artistic conventions dominant in New York and Los Angeles at the time, making expressive, idiosyncratic work that served as an irreverent retort to the detached slickness of Minimalism and Finish Fetish. Despite her underground credentials, Brown\u2019s subject matter is often bracingly banal: domestic scenes, dancing couples, swimmers, animal portraits, pictures of her husband. But the allure of Brown\u2019s work is how it unsettles viewers\u2019 assumptions about such mundane subject matter:\u00a0Woman Waiting in a Restaurant\u00a0<\/em>(1975), for instance, depicts little more than what is described in the title, but the painting\u2019s acid palette and mannered central figure, who appears motionless, as if in a trance, give this everyday scene a vague sense of menace.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Review:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Joan Brown,\u00a0Woman Preparing for a Shower<\/em>, 1975. Enamel on canvas, 84 by 72 inches; at Venus Over Manhattan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s best moments\u2014the funniest, the weirdest, the most irresistible\u2014are romantic and awkwardly affected at the same time, sweet and nostalgic but also airless. Take the large 1975 canvas\u00a0Woman Preparing for a Shower<\/em>, which greets visitors at the exhibition\u2019s entrance. Standing against a striking backdrop of electric turquoise bath tile, a shower-capped woman with long red nails prepares to remove her robe, while her companion\u2014a stringy pet dog standing on its hind legs\u2014waits with a checkered towel in its mouth. The expressionless figure is frozen in a contorted stance, heightening the scene\u2019s subtle strangeness. In another work,\u00a0Let\u2019s Dance\u00a0<\/em>(1976), a dining couple in the foreground is set against a flat cerulean ground, while the silhouettes of dancing figures in the distance float alongside a piano player.<\/strong>\u00a0A hand extends from the painting\u2019s right edge to fill the male diner\u2019s wineglass; no one seems to notice that his partner\u2019s glass has tipped over, leaving a large red stain drifting down the sides of the tablecloth. The sentimentality of these scenes is tempered by the figures\u2019 stilted poses and the stiffness of Brown\u2019s painterly technique, giving the works a surreal, dreamlike quality. Not all the paintings pulled this off:\u00a0Dancers in a City #4\u00a0<\/em>(1973), for instance, a large-scale diptych depicting a trio of colorful silhouettes dancing, an urban skyline in the background, possesses an unironic goofiness that reads as pantomime.\u00a0Grey Wolf with Red Clouds and Dark Tree\u00a0<\/em>(1968), a rendering of a spellbound wolf staring out against a noxious red skyline, similarly lacks the bizarre interiority that makes the rest of the show so enchanting.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Review:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Joan Brown,\u00a0Let\u2019s Dance<\/em>, 1976, oil enamel on canvas, 96 by 78 inches; at Venus Over Manhattan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the show\u2019s strongest works all struck me as self-portraits, in one way or another. Some, like\u00a0The Swimmers #1 (Diving)\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Swimmers #2 (The Crawl)<\/em>, 1973, a pair of beguiling canvases in which flat, faceless silhouettes move through nearly monochrome grounds of green water, directly allude to aspects of her life\u2014in this case, her passion for the titular sport\u2014while more fantastical scenes, such as\u00a0Woman Preparing for a Shower<\/em>, seem like exteriorizations of the self. Only one was explicitly identified as such:\u00a0Self-Portrait in Fur Hat\u00a0<\/em>(1972). Posing in a paint-spattered shirt against a checkerboard ground, she appears paralyzed in a position of clenched stillness, staring past the viewer, as if lost in her own world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source\uff1ahttps:\/\/www.artnews.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bay Area artist\u00a0Joan Brown, who died in 1990 at age fifty-two, produced a vast body of figurative paintings with an offbeat, vernacular appeal. This exhibition at\u00a0Venus Over Manhattan\u00a0featured a dozen of Brown\u2019s dazzling canvases, primarily from the 1970s, characterized by dreamily composed scenes and highly stylized figures. Brown emerged within San Francisco\u2019s Beat and burgeoning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13,7,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artist","8":"category-auction","9":"category-events","10":"category-gallery","11":"category-latest-news"},"yoast_head":"\nIRRESISTIBLY WEIRD - Investable Art Auctioneer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bay Area artist Joan Brown, who died in 1990 at age fifty-two, produced a vast body of figurative paintings with an offbeat, vernacular appeal.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IRRESISTIBLY WEIRD - Investable Art Auctioneer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bay Area artist Joan Brown, who died in 1990 at age fifty-two, produced a vast body of figurative paintings with an offbeat, vernacular appeal.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Investable Art Auctioneer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-28T23:23:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-01T02:08:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/brown1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"819\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mumtaz Faizel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mumtaz Faizel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/\",\"name\":\"IRRESISTIBLY WEIRD - Investable Art Auctioneer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-28T23:23:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-01T02:08:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/#\/schema\/person\/c1e509ba28210d9cdafb8d4011358d8b\"},\"description\":\"Bay Area artist Joan Brown, who died in 1990 at age fifty-two, produced a vast body of figurative paintings with an offbeat, vernacular appeal.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"IRRESISTIBLY WEIRD\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/\",\"name\":\"Investable Art Auctioneer\",\"description\":\"Atelier Auction\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/#\/schema\/person\/c1e509ba28210d9cdafb8d4011358d8b\",\"name\":\"Mumtaz Faizel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82675c48c82cd65c30ef8cddf85fc2b806ee1ab91e0b59be12d03652d7ee284c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82675c48c82cd65c30ef8cddf85fc2b806ee1ab91e0b59be12d03652d7ee284c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mumtaz Faizel\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/author\/mumtaz-faizel\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"IRRESISTIBLY WEIRD - Investable Art Auctioneer","description":"Bay Area artist Joan Brown, who died in 1990 at age fifty-two, produced a vast body of figurative paintings with an offbeat, vernacular appeal.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"IRRESISTIBLY WEIRD - Investable Art Auctioneer","og_description":"Bay Area artist Joan Brown, who died in 1990 at age fifty-two, produced a vast body of figurative paintings with an offbeat, vernacular appeal.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/","og_site_name":"Investable Art Auctioneer","article_published_time":"2021-02-28T23:23:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-01T02:08:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":819,"url":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/brown1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mumtaz Faizel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mumtaz Faizel","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/","url":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/","name":"IRRESISTIBLY WEIRD - Investable Art Auctioneer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-02-28T23:23:01+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-01T02:08:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/#\/schema\/person\/c1e509ba28210d9cdafb8d4011358d8b"},"description":"Bay Area artist Joan Brown, who died in 1990 at age fifty-two, produced a vast body of figurative paintings with an offbeat, vernacular appeal.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/irresistibly-weird\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"IRRESISTIBLY WEIRD"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/","name":"Investable Art Auctioneer","description":"Atelier Auction","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/#\/schema\/person\/c1e509ba28210d9cdafb8d4011358d8b","name":"Mumtaz Faizel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82675c48c82cd65c30ef8cddf85fc2b806ee1ab91e0b59be12d03652d7ee284c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82675c48c82cd65c30ef8cddf85fc2b806ee1ab91e0b59be12d03652d7ee284c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mumtaz Faizel"},"url":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/author\/mumtaz-faizel\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293,"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions\/293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}