CECILY BROWN AT THE THOMAS DANE GALLERY

As part of the primer for our painting specialism, i attended the exhibition of Cecily Brown's paintings at the Thomas Dane gallery in central London. Initially, i was put off by how much the exhibition space felt like a high end shop- you had to buzz to get in and, when in, you are handed a piece of paper with the information about each painting on it. Used to more frequented gallery spaces that include the information about each image on the wall besides the art, i was taken aback by this way of comprising a gallery space- i thought it was really unusual to include no context at all to the paintings you were looking at. However, as i walked around the exhibit, i understood why the curaters had chosen to display the works this way- it left the, quite abstract, paintings up for interpretation.

As the paintings have very revealing names, the information was put into the pamphlet so as not to let too much on about the paintings- you saw them and observed them as you would without influence before you're told what they're about. I think this style of curatorship really matches with Cecily Brown's work as her paintings encourage your eyes to flick around and see what you see.

Most of Brown's paintings are initially messy-looking (some more than others) and range from relatively figurative to entirely abstract. Her painting style is very loose and she uses a large range of colors through her works whilst honing in on particular pallets for individual works. I found Brown's paintings to be 'paintings for the painter'- they take time and effort to read and each one is her own communication of what she sees. As you observe these paintings, they let you in on little secrets here and there as Brown's sight guides you through landscapes and portraits alike. Hidden amongst the abstract brush strokes of Brown's paintings are more literal shapes, and, although hidden, once you discover these wells of interest you can start to piece together what the whole painting is showing you.

GALLERY VISIT- CECILY BROWN

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