David Brown: Urban Scrawl

About

In his latest series of paintings, David Brown explores the limits of the encaustic medium while balancing non-representational image and abstract space. His lyrical and constructivist approach contrasts delicate line-work and hard-edge geometric forms against graceful, gestural brushwork. He works in successive layers of applied, scraped-off and covered-over wax in a potentially endless process of revision and discovery. His colour palette places cool pastels tints over warm tones and lamp blacks to articulate a hierarchical relationship between fore and aft. Urban culture is a dominant theme defined in these narrative pieces, with a hint of childish whimsy peaking through the layers.

“I am inspired by urban culture and chaos. In the city, signs, symbols, myths and traditions combine to portray varied threads of human history,” says David Brown. “I create abstract encaustic paintings that reference these voices. For me, these paintings represent an important visual bridge for the emotional growth we all experience.”

David Brown’s paintings have been shown at galleries and museums across North America. His works are held in private and corporate collections in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Asia. He has won awards in the art and design industry and has received acclaim from Toronto’s Design Exchange in “Type Culture”, an exhibition of top designers chosen for their pivotal influence on Canadian Typography. A graduate from the Ontario College for Art and Design, he was an Industrial Design faculty member from 1996 to 2006 and also operated a highly successful product design studio. The products he designed have been sold across North America, and his work has been published in books and magazines throughout Canada and the United States. David Brown is the founder and managing director of Toronto’s SpeakEasy, which has been networking with established and emerging artists since 1996. In 2013, he initiated the Five Star collective aimed at facilitating member participation in international art opportunities. His Downtown Toronto studio is located in the Lansdowne and Dupont artistic precinct.