Bizarre and all true: Greg Brown

Greg Brown of Utrillo's Art is an intellectual social historian wild man. Two-D specimens of mundane popular “art" pieces of the 20th century - every man’s art – fill the crotchety confines of his rather unarchivally sound gallery space. Fashionable wall art of the middle classes, and then some, is staggered about. Kitsch. Campy. Bizarre and all true. Once upon a 1963 suburb, someone’s Aunt Lula displayed a self-generated paint-by-numbers of kittens on black velvet. These cheaply framed relics are again appreciated, salvaged from salvage stores, shedding a new dim and dusty light on how our culture has perceived art and the length (Mother, may I take one giant step to the craft aisle at Walmart?) we’ve gone to do it ourselves in our instant coffee worlds. Greg knows this. He is a cultural historian. A thinker.

Brown is also an apt painter, a good one at that, putting his pop collections to shame. A series of monumental wood panels (15 major groupings, containing a total of 126 panels) inspired by “The Secret Kingdom,“ a pamphlet written by Brown, the thinker, will open Friday, September 1 with a reception beginning at 7 p.m. The body of work is called The Kingdom of Heaven is like the Psychological Realm. Pieces have a religious orientation. They resemble stained glass windows with deep cobalt hues and geometric patterns. Arches of light look like doorways to heaven and or entries into a lion filled arena. The exhibit will run through September 4 in the Legion Hall directly across from Utrillo's Art, 3318 E. 10th St. Call (317) 684-3883 for info. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

*Artist, Utrillo's Art, Greg Brown, Visual artist, Indiana, The Secret Kingdom, Painter, Indianapolis gallery