The Waters Sliding marks Brown’s seventh solo exhibition with the gallery. The title of the show is a phrase loosely based on a poem by Philip Levine. In Levine’s poem, Salt and Oil, the writer ponders “a moment of daily life in the world” through the unraveling of memories connected to working class life. Brown’s interest in Levine’s writing unfolds in the artist’s new paintings, which feature people, objects, and activities drawn from everyday life as well as a continuation of his most recurring motif: water. His work pays homage to American life and the experience of everyday encounters, which Brown translates through a unique visual language that he continues to expand and develop with new subjects and modes of representation. Brown’s paintings draw on the artist’s personal memories, what he refers to as “my own history.” At the heart of his work is an awareness of his surrounding environment—scenes subtly embedded with allusions to the people, activities, and landscapes of Brown’s community. His paintings trigger the transience of moments captured by the artist’s memory and translated to paint, while his allusions to water and its varying forms conjure the ephemeral elements of life that evolve through the passage of time.
