Vivian Browne: My Kind of Protest
Drawing upon previously unknown works and archival findings, this exhibition recovers the depth and variety of the more than three-decade career of Vivian Browne (b. 1929, Laurel, FL; d. 1993, New York, NY). The exhibition features paintings, prints, and works on paper across seven bodies of work, as well as ephemera that highlight Browne’s pioneering activism and influential teaching career. Browne was a founder of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, an organization that fought for Black representation in New York museums; a founder of SoHo20, one of the first women’s art cooperatives in Manhattan; and a professor at Rutgers University (1971–92). Her signature approach to color and form challenged the neatly defined categories of abstraction and figuration, and art and politics, revealing a more nuanced approach to art-making that is part of Browne’s unique contribution to 20th-century art of the US.
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This exhibition is co-organized by The Phillips Collection and the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati.
Major support for the exhibition tour and associated programs has been provided by the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Terra Foundation for American Art, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
The presentation of Vivian Browne: My Kind of Protest at The Phillips Collection is made possible, in part, by the Linda Lichtenberg Kaplan Exhibition Fund.
With the generous support of Anne and Gus Edwards and of Reid Walker.
Additional support is provided by Eric Richter and Charles Shoener.
Exhibition Catalogue
This volume presents about 62 paintings, prints, and works on paper across several major bodies of work, alongside ephemera highlighting Vivian Browne’s enduring activism and teaching work. Drawing upon previously unknown works and archives that have recently become available, this is a significant contribution to the history of 20th-century American art.
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IMAGE: Vivian Browne, Umbrella Plant, 1971, Oil on canvas, 48 3/4 x 40 3/4 in., Courtesy of Adobe Krow Archives, CA and RYAN LEE Gallery, NY