Educational Media Reviews Online

The longtime friends of artist Frederick J. Brown sit around a table and share stories about his life and his art. Though Brown is present and makes the occasional comment, we see him through his friends’ eyes, a la Broadway Danny Rose. While many at the table met Brown under different circumstances and at different points in his life, they met each other at 120 Wooster Street, Brown’s Soho Studio, which was a gathering place for artists in the 60s and 70s. Brown emerges as a prolific and committed artist, with a strong vision and positive attitude.

His figurative paintings, influenced by his abstract expressionist roots, reflect his deep appreciation for and admiration of his subjects. A student of history and cultures, Brown, even when executing monumental size portraits, is able to “capture” a person’s essence / spirit / humanity in his depiction. Perhaps best known for his portraits of legendary African-Americans, including Stagger Lee, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, B. B. King, Brown has also taken on much larger projects, such as the history of art and re-interpretations of religious subjects (for example, the Crucifixion and the Assumption of Mary). He was the first American artist to have a one-man exhibition in 1988 at the Museum of the Chinese Revolution in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

The commentary by Brown’s friends - artists, poets, musicians - is interspersed with film footage and black-and-white stills that offer glimpses into the artist’s life: his childhood in Chicago; Brown painting in his studio; the installation of the exhibit in China; Brown with his wife, dancer Megan Bowman. The film’s soundtrack by Terence Blanchard underscores the important role that jazz and the blues have played in the artist’s life. This video was created in conjunction with the 2002 exhibition, Frederick J. Brown: Portraits in Jazz, Blues, & Other Icons, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. With works in The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Portrait Gallery, Brown is a major figure in the art world. This lively and revealing video is highly recommended.