Anthony Brown, Wandering the West, will be exhibited in the Ira M. Taylor Gallery at Hardin Simmons University from Nov 13 - Dec 8, 2023.

The exhibition features a collection of paintings by local Abilene artist, Anthony Brown.

There will be a public reception with the artist present at the gallery for a discussion and Q/A session of his work on Thursday, December 7, 2023 from 5:00 – 7 pm.

Anthony Brown

Anthony Brown spent his first 6 years of life in the idyllic Dutch-inspired town of Holland, Michigan. At age 7, his father, a language professor, took a new position teaching at a university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here he spent his school years. These were the days of the hippie movement. As a young teenager, Anthony hitchhiked to The Woodstock Music

Festival in the summer of 1969. Times were changing. During his college years, he attended Syracuse University in New York and Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.

As an artist, the brilliant light of the Texas skies and the mountains and plateaus of the Rockies were calling him west. In Abilene, he discovered a growing art scene and a community of gifted and friendly artists. He became an active member of The Artist League of Texas, now known as The Center for Contemporary Arts. Many art opportunities in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and later in Montana presented themselves. Anthony continues to paint with much fervor.

Anthony is grateful for businesses like Condley and Company, Hendricks Medical Center, and other corporations that have purchased his work. He is especially thankful for the many individuals that collect his paintings and seem to share his great love for the extraordinary beauty of The West.

Exhibition Statement

WANDERING THE WEST

My inspirations in art are dramatic scenery, light, people of the land, and the vast story of the West. I don’t think I would be a painter of landscapes if I still lived in the East. The sculptural shapes of the mountains and rocks are mighty and lonely compared with the super green and crowded East.

I work mainly from the photographs I take as I travel; often cutting them up and collaging them to suit me. With brush in hand, I proceed to express my feelings and passion for the captivating geography of the West on the canvas before me. Color and composition are my mainstay.

I am excited to be a painter dedicated to producing positive work. There is plenty of dreary art; defeated and hopeless in message. I want to tell the hard truth, but like the Impressionists, with a heart of love and awe.