OLIVIA BROWN
ABOUT OLIVIA BROWN
Olivia Brown
b. 1974
Olivia Brown creates paintings to transform her observational and physical experiences of movement into visual abstractions. In her ongoing studies of all forms of movement, she finds common ground of innate energetic wisdom within each type. She applies the kinetic knowledge embedded within these physical movements to her painting practice, utilizing the fluid French enamel varnish as her primary medium on canvas. In her current body of work, Brown explores ideas of separation and shifting to create new spaces of impenetrable impossibility.
Originally from England, Brown received a B.A. from Chelsea College of London and an M.F.A. from California College of Art in San Francisco. Her artwork has been exhibited in London, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Southern California. Olivia Brown currently lives and works in San Francisco.
EDUCATION
2003 MFA, Painting, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
1997 BA, Fine Art Painting, Honors Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, England (Honors)
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017 “Eclipse,” Hang Art, San Francisco, CA
2011 “Ecstatic Resonance,” 1045 Mission St., San Francisco, CA
2010 “New Paintings,” Prospect Restaurant, San Francisco, CA
2008 “Chrysalis,” Hang Art, San Francisco, CA
2004 “Paintings,” Twenty-two Shoes, Oakland, CA
2004 “Curling-Color Paintings,” 049 Space (@ Tehama Wireless), San Francisco, CA
2003 “Movement-based painting,” Rhythm and Motion Dance Center, San Francisco, CA
2003 “Motion/Still Painting,” Papa Toby’s Artbar, San Francisco, CA
1997 “Four Paintings,” Dogstar, Brixton, London, England
1996 “Seven Paintings,” Dogstar, Brixton, London, England
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014 “Same, Same, But Different 3.0,” Hang Art, San Francisco, CA
2013 “Transitional Forces,” Hang Art, San Francisco, CA
2011 San Francisco Fine Arts Fair, San Francisco, CA
2008 “Flow, Form and Forces,” Orchard Commercial, North First ARTSpace, San Jose, CA
2006 “Alchemy,” Hang Art, San Francisco, CA
2005 “Marking Motion,” The LAB, San Francisco, CA
2002 “Under Over Sideways Down,” Paulette Long and Shepard Pollack Gallery, California College of Art, San Francisco, CA
2000 “Selections 2000,” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2000 San Francisco Open Studios, The Blue Studio, San Francisco, CA
1999 San Francisco Open Studios, The Blue Studio, San Francisco, CA
1998 San Francisco Open Studios, The Blue Studio, San Francisco, CA
1999 “The Idea Home” exhibition, Earl’s Court, London, England
1996 “Sauce,” Spitalfields, London, England
AWARDS
2009 Artist Residency Grant, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
EXHIBITIONS CURATED
1996 Sauce, Co-Curator & Co-Producer, Spitalfields, London, England
GALLERY AFFILIATIONS
2006 – Present Hang Art, San Francisco, CA
2008 – Present Joseph Wise Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2002 – 2006 Independent Resources Agency, Santa Monica, CA
1997-1999 The Students Gallery, Wimbledon, London, England