Cecily Brown has been a preeminent figure of contemporary art since shortly after she emigrated from London to New York in the mid-nineties. An expansive painter with an affinity for controlled chaos and explicit sexual imagery, Brown was lauded for bringing abstract expressionism firstly back into current conversation, and secondly into the realm of female artists. She was also scrutinised closely by art critics with suspicions that after the Vogue profiles and shock factor petered out, her star would wane. But Brown’s work since then has only dug deeper into their initial complexities. As she layers paint in thick swaths and riotous colors, figures and re-purposed art history tropes emerge. Brown presents them all with modernity, self-awareness, and spontaneity. Today she has settled into her role as one of the New York art scene’s few perennially important voices.
Brown is currently showing in Austria at the Essl Museum. She returns to New York with a show at the Gagosian Gallery in the spring.
