21 February - 10 March 2008
about the exhibition
Jan Brown is a most distinguished Canberra artist who has always been inspired by living forms, especially birds and animals. She begins her artistic process with sketches, often drawing inspiration from wildlife seen from her kitchen window through to animals in zoos around the world. Working in bronze, ciment fondu and paper, Jan explores animal and bird forms creating both sculptural and two dimensional works which convey the artist’s great affection for her subjects. Jan has an ability to imbue her subject with its own unique personality while stamping it with her strong aesthetic identity. One of her well known public pieces is the group of kangaroos in bronze situated by the Nerang pool in Commonwealth Park, Canberra. Jan says her work is “incidental to a lifetime journey: seeing, learning, knowing, making.”
Jan Brown was born in Sydney in 1922. In 1949, she received her National Diploma in Design (Sculpture) from the Chelsea Polytechnic School of Art in London, where she studied under Henry Moore. From 1957 to 2001 she was a lecturer at the Canberra School of Art and, since 1997, a Visiting Fellow at the ANU Institute of the Arts. Jan has been exhibiting since 1949 in both group and solo shows both nationally and internationally and is a widely published and commissioned artist. Over the years she has been an inspirational teacher and mentor to countless professional and amateur artists and has worked as an activist for the arts while serving on numerous arts advisory councils and boards in Canberra. She is a member of the Order of Australia and an Emeritus Fellow of the Australia Council. Her work is represented in the collections of National Gallery of Australia; Australian National University, Canberra; Artbank; New Parliament House, Canberra; Canberra Museum & Gallery and the National Library of Australia. This is Jan Brown’s final solo exhibition.
