Roger Brown

One of the leading members of Chicago Imagists, an art movement based in Chicago in the 1960s, Roger Brown creates bold works tied with social commentary. His familial ties drove him to the American South and its distinctive culture of materialism and folk art. Later in life, Brown grew interested in the aesthetics of comic books, Art Deco and interior design, and influences visible in his graphic, skewed perspective and apocalyptic backgrounds. Dedicating works to the state of post-war America, vernacular cultures, alienation and human tragedy, Brown further created theatre sets, mixed-media sculptures, mosaic murals and prints. Aware of his own mortality when living with AIDS in the last decade of his life, Brown’s work manifests an uncanny darkness, evermore relevant to the political context of his lifetime.