St. Thomas University’s Yellow Box Gallery will showcase artist Frederick J. Brown’s work starting Feb. 25 in honour of black history month. The show, titled Legends of Jazz, is an ode to prominent, African-American musical figures who’ve left their mark on the scene.
“Frederick’s art was about people, but not representational portraits,” said Beaverbrook art Gallery curator Jeffrey Spalding. “If you slow down as a viewer, they’re seen similar, but each person is actually different.”
Originally from Georgia, Brown moved to Chicago when he was a child. He graduated with a degree in art and psychology from the Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He worked as a teacher in several universities across the United States. In 1985 he moved to Beijing to teach in the Central College of Fine Arts and Crafts.
Brown’s previous works have been exhibited in New York, Mexico City, Washington, Canada and China.
Legends of Jazz exposes the portraits of several African American Singers and musicians who have left an important legacy in jazz music like John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, Johnny Hodges, and Louis Armstrong. Their legacies are what makes up Brown’s work – exposing their portraits, but not in a way you’d expect.
“His paintings are expressionistic,” said Spalding. “He uses music as a different kind of tool in the studio, specifically jazz music.”
In 1988 some of Brown’s works were exhibited at the National Museum of China, making him the first Western artist to be showcased in the museum.
His works have been featured in The New Yorker magazine and several album covers. His paintings are also found in permanent collections at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, the White House in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York city, NY, and in Canada at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax. Fredericton’s Beaverbrook Art Gallery has also seen Brown’s work on its walls, along with the Lethbridge Art Gallery in Alberta.
Legends of Jazz showcases Brown’s influence of German abstract and expressiontic artists. He befriended famous Dutch-American abstract artist Willem de Kooning, and would later be inspired by his works.
Brown’s paintings in the Yellow Box Gallery are described as figurative expressionistic – manipulating formal representations of things to convey emotions or intensity. Six portraits show Brown’s fascination with African American music.
Spalding said the artistic experience is empowering and important for people who belong to different backgrounds. He said this exhibit will be enriching for the STU community because the student population is very diverse.
“Canada is comprised of different people and backgrounds,” said Spalding. “For art galleries it is important to include a diversity of audiences in the exhibits. The Black History Month observance brings special attention to African American and African Canadian works under marked on media.”
Curatorial assistant Meredith Briden said the new partnership between STU and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery wanted to tie the exhibition to things students are exploring and analyzing in the university. In this case, he said, music is a big part of the history of liberal arts.
“Student and professors can connect [the learning experience] with something different, like an exhibition,” said Briden.
