Mike Brown

Mike Brown
Australian 1938–1997

Mindscape 1979
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Geelong Gallery
Purchased with the assistance of the Caltex Victorian Art Government Purchase Fund, 1985

Fractal, radiating and labyrinthine, Mike Brown’s ‘mindscapes’ reflect his role as a relentless agitator of the Australian art world. Since founding the Annandale Imitation Realists—an avant-garde collective whose members railed against art world conservatism—in 1961, Brown’s artistic output traversed numerous media throughout his 40-year career, incorporating painting, performance, installation, and some of the earliest street art produced in Australia.

Preliminary versions of these works were painted in black, white and grey scales, with varying hues of colour later applied in accordance with predetermined tonal shifts. Although underpinned by an optical coherence and rhythm, the resulting compositions harbour a myriad of opposing sensibilities: organic and geometric linework, logic and improvisation, order and chaos.