Roger Brown seated in living room, 1976. Photo: William H. Bengston. Courtesy of the Roger Brown Study Collection at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. Gift of Kohler Foundation, Inc.
GRAY is pleased to announce global representation of the Estate of Roger Brown (1941–1997), a pioneering artist whose vision reshaped the landscape of contemporary American art. A leading figure of the group known as the Chicago Imagists who brought bold, Surrealist sensibilities into postwar discourse, Brown forged a path that combined social observation with stylized visual language. His work, which spans the decades of the 1960s through the 1990s, offers a penetrating view of contemporary life, popular culture, and the evolving American landscape.
A seminal artist of his time, Brown was instrumental in shaping the creative dialogue that emerged around the Chicago Imagist movement while continually expanding its boundaries. Drawing inspiration from his Southern roots, the built environment, and the shifting social currents of his era, Brown developed an unmistakable visual vocabulary—graphic, theatrical, and incisively human. His practice transcended categorization, bridging the narrative and the formal, the personal and the political, and positioned him as one of the most distinctive voices in late twentieth-century art.
“Roger Brown dared to confront the complex politics of an America he cared deeply for with a sharply critical eye, but also with a grace, wit, and style that distinguishes his contribution to twentieth-century painting,” says Valerie Carberry, CEO and President of GRAY. “His powerful critique continues to resonate in our present time, and GRAY looks forward to expanding the audience for his work in new contexts and dialogues.”
Brown’s work is currently featured in two major exhibitions in the US: Sixties Surreal at the Whitney Museum of Art, on view through January 19, 2026, and City in a Garden at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, on view through May 31, 2026.
GRAY will feature works by Brown in the Kabinett sector at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2025, and in April 2026, will present Weathervane, a monographic exhibition at GRAY Chicago focused on the artist’s engagement with the environment and fascination with weather systems.