Art at The Acorn – Artist Reception for Chris Brown - Awakening
Friday, Feb. 02 | 7:00pm ET (6:00pm CT)
The Acorn Center for the Performing Arts transforms into a visual art space with our initiative Art at The Acorn. We are proud to welcome our new artist, Chris Brown and his exhibit Awakening.
The exhibition follows Chris’s painting from about a year into his journey, when he started working in oils.
Artist Reception is free and open to the public.
- Light bites | Cash bar
- Artist Talk and Q&A moderated by Janet Davies
Photography was the first visual art medium to capture Chris’s attention, so much so that he once considered it for a career. Instead, it served as a hobby on-and-off over the years. But in the depths of the pandemic, a very special person put a paint brush in Chris’s hand for the first time – something he describes as ‘life-changing.’
“In an age of uncertainty and isolation, painting provided – and still provides -- much-needed doses of immersion, escape and joy. My newfound passion for painting is also proof that it's never too late in life to take on new endeavors, creative or otherwise.” –Chris Brown
In the three short years Chris has been putting paint to canvas (or wood panels, or cardboard, or reclaimed cupboard doors, etc.), he has gone from small-scale acrylics to larger oils. Using multiple layers, free-form gestures and geometric shapes, Chris’s works are designed to engage the viewer up close and from afar, and evoke interpretation on an individual level.
Registration for the free Artist Reception is encouraged. Please click the “Get Tickets” button at the bottom of this page to register.
Artist Statement:
After dabbling off and on in the written and visual arts for most of my life, a few years back I discovered painting, and now focus on mostly oils, mostly abstract. While self-taught, I am always eager to learn, not just from experience but from others: teachers, artists, or, like me, people who just like to talk about art. It excites me because I know this well is bottomless, that I can explore, consume, surround myself with, and create art ad infinitum and still find more to discover. These paintings represent the evolution of my style, mostly abstract forms that evoke representational interpretations. I utilize the viscous properties of oil paints to blend colors and layers to create depth that rewards viewing both up close and from afar.
About the Artist
Chris was born and raised in the Detroit area, graduated from Michigan State University, moved to Chicago, wrote fiction, played in bands, dabbled in photography, graduated from the University of Chicago, worked and worked some more, bought a place in Three Oaks, discovered painting during the pandemic and can't stop.
