Leonard Brown was born in Brisbane in 1949 and currently lives and works in Ipswich, Queensland. He studied at the Central Technical College Art School from 1965-69 and was received into the Orthodox Church in 1976.
Leonard Brown
Brown's art practice encompasses a diverse spectrum of work including abstract oil paintings and Russian icon painting. His abstract painting he calls his, "union with reality" and involves a fluid process of manipulating the paint to drip and stretch to its fullest potential. The results vary from serene minimalism to optical richness and abstraction.
The creation of Brown's icon works is a similarly ritualistic process informed by dedication to the icons as a sacrament and living thing. He utilizes traditional materials (such as egg tempera) and techniques to satisfy this calling. Throughout, materials from the natural world and communion with the Christology are essential for the "painter/priest."
Brown has shown his work extensively in both Australia and internationally. His work is held in many public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Australia Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne; Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney; Art Gallery of South Australia Adelaide; Art Gallery of Western Australia Perth; Queensland Art Gallery Brisbane; Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery Sydney; Australian Parliament House Collection Canberra; Brisbane City Gallery, Queensland; Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki New Zealand; University of Melbourne, Melbourne; LaTrobe University, Melbourne; Macquarie University, Sydney.
Education
1976
Received into the Russian Orthodox church
1965-68
Central Technical College Art School
Select Solo Exhibitions
2023
- Field of Gold, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2022
- Zographos - Life Writer, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane
2021
- Riders in the Chariot, Andrew Baker Art Dealer Brisbane
2019
- Sacred Silence, ACU (Australian Catholic University) Sydney
- The Divine Sophia: Ikons and Personal Poetry, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2018
- Apaphoria (the way of negation), Andrew Baker Art Deaker, Brisbane
2017
- Experience untaught me the world, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2016
- Likeness, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2015
- Old Fashioned Painting, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2014
- Extra Ordinary Painting, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2013
- Ikonodule, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2011
- The Familiar Perpendicular, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
- Union with Reality - The Art of Leonard Brown, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane
2010
- The Unusual Suspects IV, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
- Extraordinary Measures, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- I Promised A Rainbow, Andrew Baker Art Sealer, Brisbane
2009
- In the Eternal Now, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2008
- Three Four Sixteen Eighty And A Hundred, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
- Time Time and Time Again, Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2007
- Recent Works, Michael Reid Art Merchant, Sydney
- Petrified Time, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2006
- All a swan needs is another swan, Michael Reid Art Merchant, Sydney
2005
- In the Steppes of Central Asia, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
- Sedimentary Painting, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- Painting by Numbers, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2004
- Brisbane or the Bush, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
- Sydney or the Bush, Michael Reid Art Merchant, Sydney
2003
- Paintings: Old and New, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
- Up & Down, Backwards & Forwards Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- New Paintings, Michael Reid Art Merchant, Sydney
2002
- Songs of Ascent and Descent: paintings and collages, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2001
- Love Life Paintings, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
1998
- Mountains Old and New 1978–1998, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
1996
- Cave Painting, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
1995
- Brisbane Painting—Leonard Brown, Brisbane City Gallery, Brisbane
1993
- Milky Way, Mori Gallery, Sydney
- Drawing in the ‘90s, Cafe Tempo, Brisbane
1992
- Survey of Work 1983–92, Mori Annex, Sydney
1991
- Paintings for the Evening, Deutscher Gallery, Melbourne
- Selected Drawings and Paintings, 11 Enoggerra Terrace, Brisbane
1990
- Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1989
- Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney
1988
- Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1987
- Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney
- Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1986
- Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1985
- Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
- The Painters Gallery, Sydney
1984
- The Painters Gallery, Sydney
1968
- Design Arts Centre, Brisbane
Group Exhibitions
2024
- Arriving Slowly, Ipswich Art Gallery
- Aspects of Abstraction, Charles Nodrum Collection @ the Town Hall Gallery
- Logos / Λογότυπα, Hazelhurst Arts Center, Giamea NSW.
- Abstraction 24, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- 40th Anniversary Exhibition: Gallery Artists, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- Australian Abstraction in Context, Macquarie University Art Museum
2023
- Junior Curators / Mysterious Realms, Ipswich Art Gallery
- Of Late, selected works University of the Sunshine Coast Art Collection
- Abstraction 23, Charles Nodrum Galley, Melbourne
- Vibrations in Australian Drawing Exhibition, Macquarie University Art Museum / 100 Artists
2022
- Meet the Artists, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
- Like Yesterday, City of Redcliffe Gallery
- Courage and Beauty, The James Sourris AM Collection, QGoMA Brisbane
- Brisbane Portrait Prize, Powerhouse Brisbane (highly commended)
2019
- Meet the Artists, State Library of Queensland: Vernon Ah Kee, Luke Roberts, Fiona Foley, Judith Wright, Leonard Brown, Ann Wallace, Sandra Selig and Eugene Carchesio
- Come Close, University of the Sunshine Coast Gallery, Sippy Downs
2017
- Land, Rain & Sun, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2014
- 30th Anniversary Group Show, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- The less there is to see the more important it is to look, The Ian potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
- Little pictures and sculptures, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2013
- The imperceptible something…, Caboolture Regional Gallery, Queensland
2012
- Recent Acquisitions, UQ Art Museum University of Queensland, Brisbane.
2011
- Recent Acquisitions, Ipswich City Gallery, Queensland
- Artist Artists, Benalla Art Gallery, Victoria
- 10 Degrees of Separatio, Poimenia Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania
- Courage and Beauty, The James Sourris AM Collection, QAGOMA
- Universal Abstraction, Highlights from Macquarie University Collection, University of Western Sydney
- New 2010: Selected Recent Acquisitions, UQ Art Museum, University of Queensland, Brisbane
- Modern Australian Painting, Charles Nodrum Gallery; Melbourne
- Art for Flood Sake, Logan Art Gallery, City of Logan
2010
- Blake Prize Exhibition, National Art School, Sydney (winner)
- Proportion, Toowoomba Regional Gallery
- Hard- edge abstraction and 'The Field’, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
- Recent Acquisitions, Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne University, Melbourne
2009
- Abstraction 8, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- Little Pictures Exhibition, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- Finalist Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- Spin, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane
2008
- Repeat that again: The serial impulse in art since the sixties, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
- The Tallis Foundation: 2008 National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
- Contemporaneous, Contemporary Australian Painting, Wangaratta Exhibition Gallery, Wangaratta
- Sacred Art, Icons in Australia, Riddoch Art Gallery, Mount Gambier
- Works on Paper, Michael Reid Art Merchant, Sydney
- From Minimal to Maximal, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- That 80’s Show, QUT Art Museum, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
2007
- Earthly reflections of heavenly things, Melbourne University
2006
- Into the Mystic: Black and White Prints, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
- Abstraction 5, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- Colonial to Contemporary, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
- Double Take, Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane
- Gallery Artists, Charles Nudrum Gallery, Melbourne
- The Tallis Foundation 2006 National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery
2005
- 21, Charles Nodrum, Melbourne
- The Recent Past: Contemporary Acquisitions, 1995–2004, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane
- A Celebration: Charles Nodrum Gallery's 21st Birthday, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2004
- Significant Tilt: Art and the Horizon of Meaning, Macquarie University, Sydney
- The Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- Modern Australian Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- The Unusual Suspects II, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2003–04
- Home Sweet Home: works from the Peter Fay collection, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
2003
- Significant Tilt: Art and the Horizon of Meaning, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney
- The Unusual Suspects, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
- Abstraction III, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2002
- Far From Home, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
- Gallery Artists Exhibition, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- Sydney Exhibition: Selected Paintings from the 1960s to the Present, Charles Nodrum Gallery @ Deutscher-Menzies Gallery, Sydney
- Abstraction II, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
- Abstraction, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2001
- Paperworks: Australian artists exploring drawing and the printed image, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
2000
- Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast Arts Centre, Bundall
- Flash: a lucky dip fundraiser, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
- Journey of Light: art, creativity and the sacred, Global Arts Link, Ipswich
1999
- The Drawing Room: Contemporary Queensland Drawing, Brisbane City Gallery
1997
- Now: 10th Anniversary of the Gallery Exhibition, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
- New Works on Paper, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
1996
- Recent Acquisitions, Brisbane City Gallery, Brisbane
- Survey Exhibition, Brisbane City Council Art Gallery and Museum, Brisbane
1995
- Contemporary Australian and International Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Salon x 3, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
1994
- An Exotic Otherness: ‘Crossing Brisbane Lines’, Travelling Exhibition
- The Baillieu Meyer Collection of the 1980s, Museum of Modern Art, Heide, Melbourne
- Remain in Light: Queer Photography, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
- The John McCaughey Memorial Art Prize, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1993
- Contemporary Australian Painting: Works from the Allen Allen and Hemsley Collection, Westpac Gallery, Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne
- Art right: in the public eye, School of Arts, Brisbane
- Remain in Light, Grace Brothers Gallery, Sydney
- Sshh..., Mori Gallery, Sydney
- Approaches to the Sublime: Aspects of the Esoteric in Contemporary Painting, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
- Homage (International Aids Day) Artists’ Friends Remembered, Rick’s Bar, Brisbane
- Thought Painting, Michael Milburn Gallery, Brisbane
- Selected Works from the Margaret Stewart Endowment, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1992
- Seven, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
- The Real Category (You Are Here), Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
1991
- Microcosm, Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney
1990
- L’ete Australian Montpelier, Musee Fabre, Galerie Saint Ravy, Montpelier, France
- 100 Artists Against Animal Experimentation, Deutscher Gallery, Melbourne
- Second Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
- ‘4’, Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney
- Homage to Morandi, Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney
- Niagara Galleries Melbourne at Hill-Smith Fine Art Gallery, Adelaide Festival of Arts Exhibition, Adelaide
1988
- A New Generation: Phillip Morris Arts Grant, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
- Drawing in Australia: Drawings, Watercolours and Pastels from the 1770s to the 1980s (Bicentennial Exhibition), Australian National Gallery, Canberra
- First Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
- 9 x 5 mail, Gold Coast City Art Gallery
- The Melbourne Savage Club Invitation Art Prize, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
1987
- Cool, Quiet, Art: Recent Work by Leonard Brown, Helen Lillicrap-Fuller, Madonna Staunton and June Tupicoff, City of Ipswich Gallery
- Aberdare Prize for Landscape, Ipswich City Gallery
- Director’s Choice, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
1986
- Aberdare Prize for Still Life, Ipswich City Gallery
- A First Look, Phillip Morris Arts Grant Purchases 1983–86, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
- December Exhibition, Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney
1979
- Trustees’ Purchase Exhibition: L. J. Harvey Memorial Prize for Drawing, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
1973
- Blake Prize for Religious Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1968
- Winter Exhibition, Contemporary Art Society, Brisbane
1967
- Student’s End of Year Exhibition, Art School, Central Technical College, Brisbane
1966
- Art School Prize for Painting, Central Technical College
1975
- Special Projects Grant, from the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council
1986
- Aberdare prize for still life, Ipswich Art Gallery
