AMANDA JOY BROWN

1 June 2022 (New Orleans, LA) JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition of Bay Area-based artist Amanda Joy Brown entitled Converge. Brown first appeared at the gallery in the January 2021 show curated by Matthew Weldon Showman entitled New Year, New Art, which featured several works from her “Crowds” series – an incredibly poignant subject matter during a time of seclusion and isolation. The artist expands on this motif of human gathering in this suite of nine, new paintings with explorations of space, community, and congregation. Here artistic process is unique in that the individual forms are first plotted by line work achieved through drip techniques. Fusing elements of direct observation and abstraction, the final composition creates a solidarity in pattern and rhythm, positing a single entity, through the balance of color, gesture, and texture.

The artist says of the exhibition…

People gather, disperse, and regroup in different combinations, converging at different times, and in different states of mind. Some gatherings are ephemeral and ever-shifting. Pathways, streets, beaches, theaters, concert halls, parks, and schools all attract and choreograph their occupants, filled with the energy of paths crossing and creating an encompassing, emergent personality unique to each crowd. These moments in time, no matter how brief, allow us to acknowledge the small connections among vast amounts of people that are collectively drawn to the same place or activity. In a time when we've collectively experienced both isolation and community, I've found myself appreciating these interpersonal moments in a new light.

Amanda Joy Brown is a visual artist and educator based in the Bay Area. After studying Art and French at Harding University in Arkansas, Brown earned her MFA in the painting program at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She completed a month long residency at the Vermont Studio Center before moving to Nashville, TN where she found a studio community at Ground Foor Gallery+ Studios, and continued to exhibit in around the US as well as southern France. She now resides in California with her husband and 14 month old daughter, working out of her home studio and doing plein air excursions to paint the beautiful landscape of the East Bay every chance she gets. Her work is exhibited and collected internationally.

The exhibition will be on view from 1 June to 16 July 2022, with an opening reception coinciding with the Arts District of New Orleans’ (ADNO) First Saturday Gallery Openings from 5-8 PM on 4 June 2022. For more information, press or sales inquiries please contact Gallery Director Matthew Weldon Showman at 504.343.6827 or matthew@jonathanferraragallery.com. Please join the conversation with JFG on Facebook (@JonathanFerraraGallery), Twitter (@JFerraraGallery), and Instagram (@JonathanFerraraGallery) via the hashtags: #AmandaJoyBrown, #Converge, #JonathanFerraraGallery, and #ArtsDistrictNewOrleans.