On any given evening you can find Eliza Brown planted on her bed, usually consuming some wine, an episode of Real Housewives, and perhaps some late-night snacks. Brown is hard at work; enamored by the fantastically over-dramatic pseudo celebrities that squawk at each other in-between gulps of chardonnay, she observantly gathers material and inspiration for her next pop-culture driven painting.
Brown’s smart satirical paintings do more than deflate the self-importance of stars. They also mock the gushing media that glorify them, and demonstrate that while taking tired jabs at stars is common, satirizing Kimye or the newest Bravo TV star so effectively that you expose the inane soul of celebrity culture itself is an art. With irrepressible energy that exudes from each of her vibrant, slapdash brush strokes, Brown not only recognizes the starry images and video clips from infotainment resources like US Weekly and Access Hollywood, but also pinpoints their grotesque exaggerations of ordinary life to create her tongue-in-cheek pieces. Each painting stands as her internalized analyses of fame and modern pop-culture; each works to subvert the cult of celebrity even as they feed off it.
Her works capture rawness and chaos that cohabitate so naturally in reality television and celebrity-obsessed environments. Brown focuses on the phenomenology of her surroundings and works with intellect and intuition in creating paintings that reflect and document the ever present lowbrow American culture.
What are you wearing today?
Favorite reality TV show ‘star’?
What was the last book, magazine, image or website you turned to for inspiration?
What are the main topics you deal with in your work?
Favorite place to find recluse in Boston?
Stay up on the latest from Eliza Brown by following her on Instagram @elizabrownart or at elizabrownart.com.