Michael Brown’s new paintings reference the hedonistic, edenic world of Hieronomous Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. Brown’s New Delights are quite literally a garden.
The new works are the artist’s renditions of prototype flowers. In Brown’s garden the flowers begin to mimic the qualities that humans find attractive in order to further their own evolution. Man imitating nature, imitating man.
Brown who has historically considered himself a portrait painter has imbued these futuristic, hybrid flowers with their own personalities. Some flowers are reminiscent of old master portraits with starched ruffs and dramatic up dos. Flora imitating humans.
Utilizing glossy automotive and glow in the dark paints the artist has pushed the tradition of botanical painting even further; fusing high tech materials with practiced hand and expert facility of a traditional painter.