GLENN BROWN – AND THUS WE EXISTED at Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (Bleibtreustraße 15/16), 2020

GLENN BROWN And Thus We Existed Bleibtreustraße 15/16, 10623 Berlin 31 October 2020 – 23 January 2021 Galerie Max Hetzler is pleased to announce the solo exhibition "And Thus We Existed" with paintings, drawings and sculptures by Glenn Brown at Bleibtreustraße 45 and the gallery's new space at Bleibtreustraße 15/16. One of Britain’s most revered contemporary artists, Brown works across painting, drawing and sculpture, taking as his source material reproduced imagery from art history and popular culture. At the core of his practice is the blending of artistic periods and stylistic genres. Transcending time and pictorial conventions, Brown’s work disarms common distinctions between beauty and abjection, heightening the emotive tension present within. The sources for Brown’s practice are found in the works of Old Masters, Surrealists or artists such as Karel Appel, Frank Auerbach or Georg Baselitz, as well as sci-fi painters like Chris Foss. Starting with published or downloaded versions of his sources, he manipulates the imagery digitally before beginning to paint on panel, further transforming them into works of an unparalleled uncanniness, where colours and forms undergo further re-assessment. Conceptually distinct from Appropriation Art, Brown’s artistic process demonstrates where his focus essentially lies; not in the base image per se, but rather in the possibilities which derive from it. For his fifth exhibition with the gallery in Berlin, Brown will present a selection of new and recent paintings, drawings and sculptures. Acid pigments and winding lines create deformed and impalpable portraits, with the colours appropriated from the artist’s own earlier paintings. Bodies and faces intertwine, leaving the viewer with an uncanny, unsettling impression. Flowing curls create a sense of baroque movement, encouraging the eye to wander both across and in and out of each painting, as enigmatic subjects and titles unravel into odd narratives. 0:00-0:16 Installation view 0:17-0:44 "Bleating Shoe", 2020 0:45-1:34 "Bring on the Headless Horses", 2020 1:35-1:57 Installation view 1:58-2:43 "Drawing 3 (after Pieneman/Van Noordt)", 2019 2:44-3:42 "Lactate (Midwinter)", 2020 3:43-4:22 "The Smell of Rain When the Twilight Was Leaving", 2020 4:23-4:54 Installation view https://www.maxhetzler.com/exhibitions/glenn-brown-and-thus-we-existed-20201