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BLT Gallery Presents

Herb Brown
The "Heads"
July 8 – August 15, 2010

NEW YORK, NY - Herb Brown has never colored between the lines. His large-scale collage of advertisements and subway posters graphically enhanced with paint boldly challenged the roles of imagery in consumer culture and the radical conservatism and censorship imposed upon society and the art world in the 1960s. Even when Leo Castelli rejected his work in 1965, deeming the content pornographic and inappropriate for a commercial gallery space, Brown still refused to yield to politics. The following year, Brown produced less confronting work and was deemed tolerable by the New York Times at an exhibition of erotic art at the Sidney Janis Gallery. Brown describes that work as, "a vast deception, fantastically watered down." He continued to paint uninhibitedly, producing a body of work that artist Budd Hopkins described years later as "so blatant and ferocious that (it) may give pause to D.H. Lawrence or to that matter to Henry Miller."

Although rich in social commentary, it is his vivid, expressionistic technique that defines Brown's works. "Aesthetics ruled what I did," he said. "My id, my psychology - I was emotionally driven." The paintings on exhibit are a set of portraits called the "Heads". This series brings to the forefront his unique artistic style, which blends rich colors, thick impasto, and loose geometric forms painted in the free-style strokes of Abstract Expressionism. Alongside these portraits is a selection of his earlier works, including Surprise from 1966. The viewer will enjoy an oeuvre whose humor and intellect evolved into a pure demonstration of the dynamism of the canvas and the emotional range of consumer culture. His works will be on display at the BLT Gallery from July 8th, 2010 to August 15th, 2010. There will be a reception for the artist on Thursday, July 8, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

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