Joan Brown was an American figurative painter who lived and worked in Northern California.
Background
Joan Brown was born on February 19, 1938, in San Francisco to a second-generation Irish father and a native Californian mother. Brown’s family life was very unhappy. Her father drank heavily and her mother, who had intended to have a career instead of a family, frequently threatened suicide. Brown could not wait to grow up and move out.
Education
Brown acquired her education through Catholic Schools in San Francisco - first St. Vincent de Paul School and then Presentation High School - which engendered in her a revulsion toward Catholic education and religion. She studied at the California School of Fine Art (now San Francisco Art Institute), where her teachers included Elmer Bischoff.
By 1960 she was represented by a major New York gallery, and was one of thirty-six artists included in the Whitney’s Young Americans exhibition. But even as she worked in San Francisco among a burgeoning cohort of fellow artists that included Elmer Bischoff, Jay DeFeo and Manuel Neri, Brown’s work developed in the following decades in a way that was distinct from others. Thinly brushed lines of enamel replaced her signature thick oil application, and shifting concerns in composition and tonal contrasts followed.
From 1961 until 1969, Brown taught introductory painting and drawing classes at the California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco. In 1964, she was invited to University of Colorado at Boulder to teach during the summer. Brown taught painting to both undergraduate and graduate students. She also taught at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco (1966–67 and 1971–73), the University of Victoria, British Columbia (1969), Sacramento State College (1970–71), and Mills College, Oakland (1973). In 1974 she became an assistant art professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and was subsequently given tenure.
A San Francisco native, Brown swam in the Bay for most of her life. A body of water known for its icy temperature and harrowing currents, this was not for the faint of heart. Although she had competed in amateur swims for many years, in 1972 Brown began training with Hall of Fame swimming coach Charlie Sava, who became a life-long friend and mentor, and a frequent subject of her paintings.
By 1975 Brown competed in her first Alcatraz race, swimming from Alcatraz Island to the San Francisco shoreline. When a large freighter ship passed the swimmers, it created a surge that disoriented many of them. Brown was pulled from the water over an hour later, hallucinating, and stiff with hypothermia. Traumatized by the experience, she went on to create a related series of paintings and drawings. However, the artist was not deterred by the experience, remarking in 1981 that she depended on the daily ritual of swimming in the Bay.
Brown’s connection to the water also extended beyond her activities as a swimmer. An avid traveler drawn to the cultures and religions of other countries, the sights and experiences of her wanderlust emerged in her work. Thus water signified a medium of transport and a backdrop to foreign lands.
Water also served as a symbolic passageway to other worlds. Chinese Statues Guarding a Delta Landscape reflected the artist’s emerging interests in the philosophies of mysticism and spirituality, allowing viewers a glimpse into a serene night landscape that allegorically represented the afterlife.
In many other paintings, water is simply implied by a vast expanse of a blue that fills the background, a technique that is reminiscent of Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park series.
By the 1980s, critics denigrated her work as “undeveloped,” “self-righteous” and “paralyzingly self-conscious,” and the emergence of her new flattened imagery as garish and cartoonish. But as Brown was fond of declaring, her aim was not to please critics, but rather to use her art as a tool for introspection.
In 1990, Brown travelled to India to help with the installation of her obelisk. She died in a construction accident while installing an obelisk at Sai Baba's Eternal Heritage Museum in Puttaparthi, India.
The Anniversary – Accessories – Scarf with Evening Purse, Orchid Corsage and Glove
Self Portrait with Cloud & Cigarette
Christmas Time 1970 (Joan and Noel)
The Journey #1
After the Alcatraz Swim #1
Connections
In 1956 Joan married her first husband, Bill Brown, a fellow student who had encouraged her to complete her course and work with Bischoff. The marriage of Joan and Bill Brown was annulled in 1962. Brown was married to Bay Area Figurative sculptor Manuel Neri from 1962 to 1966, though their relationship and artistic collaboration dated back several years prior to this. Their son, Noel Neri, is also an artist. In 1968, she married artist Gordon Cook.
Spouse:
Manuel Neri
Spouse:
Bill Brown
Spouse:
Gordon Cook
Son:
Noel Neri
References
The Art of Joan Brown
For Joan Brown, art was a means of self-revelation and self-investigation, a fact made clear by the autobiographical nature of her work. This book aims to fully explore her career and provide an overview of her life, from her childhood to her years as a mature artist and teacher.