Working with Karl Wirsum and Ed Paschke since the mid-1990s, Ellen Sandor and the (art)n collective have created astonishing PHSColograms, allowing the artists to translate and expand ideas into a new medium of color, light, and dimensionality. Ellen Sandor became interested in including Roger Brown in this body of work celebrating Chicago Imagist artists, and the relevance of their images and ideas to contemporary practices in art and technology.

The (art)n collective created  the PHSCologram, VSL / RB (Virtual Still Life / Roger Brown) in honor of Roger Brown's singular vision and his artistic presence in Chicago. In VSL / RB, (art)n began with an image of Roger Brown dressed as one of his signature painted buildings. A slide of this painted canvas construction, dated 1981 and modeled by Brown, was found in the Roger Brown Study Collection archive. Despite considerable searching, no information about what the piece was made for, or where it was exhibited or photographed, has been found. Nonetheless, it's quintessentially Roger Brown.

One can read this piece variously: an expression of Brown's identification with the visual, emblematic, and symbolic presence of architecture would be a serious reading. As a cloth covering, "artist cozy" would be a more humorous interpretation. (art)n incorporated this image into VSL # 9 Casa Grande Virgin with Candy Apple Red (1995, oil on canvas, mixed media, 17 1/2 x 13 1/2 x 7 1/4"),  from Brown's 1995 series of Virtual Still Life tableaux. The Virgin figure was replaced with Roger Brown as Roger Brown/building.

The resulting composition is a distillation of visual elements and ideas that are iconic to Brown's work, from early years to the end of his career: enigmatic theatrical space, a backdrop of billowing clouds, and architecture anthropomorphized--at once a solid, dimensional, and virtual homage to the artist.

We are deeply honored that (art)n has included Roger Brown within its scope, and extend sincere thanks to Ellen Sandor, Keith Miller, Pete Latofa, Jack Ludden and Janine Fron for focusing their collaborative energies on this project.

Lisa Stone
Curator
Roger Brown Study Collection

 

References

Adrian, Dennis and Stone, Lisa (2004). Roger Brown, A Different Dimension. Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama.

Warren, Lynne (1996). Art in Chicago: 1945-1995. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois.

Stone, Lisa (1993). Sacred Spaces & Other Places: A Guide to Grottos & Sculptural Environments in the Upper Midwest.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.