Colin Brown Exhibition at Resipole Studios

Having spent periods of time living and painting in Europe, including a four month stay in Florence and four years in Düsseldorf, Brown is now based in Stonehaven on the north-east coast of Scotland. A graduate of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee, over the past thirty-five years, he has established an ongoing record of research and creative practice, building up a strong international career profile. This has led to regular exhibitions throughout the UK, Europe and America.

Brown is best known for his unique and distinctive collage-based works. For more than 15 years, these were inspired by urban landscapes and European cities, which he had come to know well. Works reflected the buzzing sights, sounds and colours of the European urban cityscapes he had spent time in. Whilst elements of nature had always been present, in his more recent practice they have risen to the fore.

Lockdown provided the main catalyst for this progression: confined to the area surrounding his home and studio in Stonehaven, daily walks became an integral part of Brown’s routine. This time spent outside, exploring new paths and routes, gave him the headspace to daydream, and the opportunity to truly get back to nature. In turn, this informed his practice, which has evolved to become much more grounded in the environment.

In his latest botanical series of paintings, Brown sets up a direct conversation with an artist from a different age - the 18th century Belgian botanical painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté. A single Redouté flower forms the basis of each composition. Brown then alters, paints over and adds collage elements to produce a contemporary response to Redouté’s work. Repeated circular forms, fragments of text, dot patterns and paint splashes become an integral part of the finished painting. Traces of humanity float through these images of nature. A more painterly approach is now central to the work, though his distinctive use of collage is still evident.

Brown’s paintings have received a number of awards, most notably a major Artist’s Grant from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York in 1996.