This year I am going to try and represent an artist from each state in America. I thought it would be fun to do this to learn more about different artists but to also learn more about my country. It is fun to look at what influences people from different times in history from their part of the country. This week we are starting with Alabama native Roger Brown.
Roger Brown was born in Hamilton, AL in 1941. In his early childhood he took art classes during his elementary and high school days. He was greatly influenced by the deep south, folk art and hand made functional pieces. He loved comics, theater, architecture and the style of Art Deco. After graduating high school he enrolled in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was here that he learned to love the Pre-Renaissance period, Italian art, Surrealism, and American artists Hopper, Wood, and O'Keeffe.
Brown is noted to be associated with the Chicago Imagist School of artists who were known for grotesquerie, surrealism and a complete univolvement with New York art trends. This group was most prevalent in the mid-1960's to the early 1970's. This school had three different factions: The Monster Roster, The Hairy Who, and The Chicago Imagists. Brown was part of the latter. They were not a formal group of artists but all in this faction were involved in Baum curated shows during the time period.
Roger Brown also loved to travel on road trips across the US and this influenced his work. He also traveled to Mexico, Europe, Russia, and Asia.
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