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Arts Intel Report

Roger Brown: Weathervane

Roger Brown, Lake Effect, 1980.

Mar 19 – June 13, 2026
2044 W Carroll Ave Chicago, IL 60612

Once you’ve seen a painting by Roger Brown, you’ll recognize his work wherever it turns up. Pillowy patterns find Radio City rhythms. Details glow, strangely scaled. Urban landscapes and mind-blowing skyscapes contain tiny silhouettes of plants, people, and machines. There never ceases to be more to see in a Brown painting, and oh that Pop sense of color, often set against the night. Brown was born in Alabama in 1941, and received his BFA and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He was influenced by Surrealism, Regionalism, and outsider art, and became a leading member of the Chicago Imagists. Brown died in 1997, at 55, from complications of AIDS. This is the first monographic exhibition of his work since Gray began exclusive representation of his estate. —Laura Jacobs

Images courtesy of GRAY Chicago/New York. © The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Brown Family.