Artist Melissa Brown Blends Sacred and Profane in New York

Melissa Brown, a New York-based artist, is showcasing her distinctive work in the city. Brown's paintings, which often incorporate elements of the sacred and profane, are on display in a two-venue group exhibition, Does This Taste Funny? Humor in Contemporary Art, at Lehman College Art Gallery and the Gallery at Lehman College. The exhibition, co-curated by Brown, features a variety of contemporary artworks that explore the theme of humor in art.

Brown's artistic style is characterized by a collage of techniques, including photography, plein-air painting, CMYK printing, airbrush, and stencil. Her work often features mirrored surfaces, shop windows, psychics' tables, and bedroom altars, creating a layered and dynamic visual experience. One of her notable works, “Commute” (2020), depicts a hand with long fingers and press-on nails spinning shiny meditation balls in an empty subway car, with the Brooklyn Bridge visible through the window. The painting includes a strobe effect that animates the fingers and the reflective balls, a nod to British Vorticist painter Sybil Andrews.

Brown's studio is located on the second floor of a building in Flatbush, Brooklyn, above a busy deli and a braiding salon. The environment reflects the themes in her work, where the mundane and the performative elements of beauty rituals collide through glass shop windows. Brown's use of a cat-eye makeup motif in her paintings is a recurring theme, symbolizing the layering of daily experiences and dating back to ancient Egypt, where women wore mineral liner for its health properties and as protection against the evil eye.

Brown was born in 1974 in Morristown, New Jersey, and received her BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and her MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Yale University. She also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2000. Currently, Brown is a professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, where she continues to inspire and educate the next generation of artists.

Does This Taste Funny? Humor in Contemporary Art is on view at Lehman College Art Gallery and the Gallery at Lehman College.

**Context:** Melissa Brown's work is significant because it challenges traditional boundaries between the sacred and the profane, blending everyday experiences with symbolic and ritualistic elements. Her unique approach to art, which incorporates a variety of techniques and themes, makes her a notable figure in the contemporary art scene. Brown's exhibition at Lehman College provides an opportunity for viewers to engage with her thought-provoking and visually striking work, while also exploring the broader theme of humor in contemporary art.