Alex Brown - Internal Empire by Marguerite Communic'Art

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ALEX BROWN INTERNAL EMPIRE

Opening thursday 26 may 2016, from 6pm Exhibition from 26 may until 18 june 2016

Alex Brown, Blanket, 2015 - Oil on canvas, 52.5 x 52.5 inches - © André Morin Courtesy Galerie Triple V

GALERIE TRIPLE V

CONTACT PRESSE

5, rue du Mail 75002 Paris info@triple-v.fr +33 (0)1.45.84.08.36

Agence Communicart Lindsey Marsh lmarsh@communicart.fr +33 (0)1.43.20.01.14

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ALEX BROWN, BIOGRAPHY

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ALEX BROWN AND THE DIGITALE IMAGES PRODUCTION BY VINCENT PÉCOIL

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VISUALS AVAILABLE FOR USE BY THE PRESS

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TRIPLE V, TWO SPACES IN PARIS AN ADDITIONAL SPACE FOR GALERIE TRIPLE V

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TRIPLE V - PROJECTS

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VINCENT PÉCOIL, FOUNDER OF TRIPLE V

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PRACTICAL INFORMATION

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PRESS RELEASE

ALEX BROWN INTERNAL EMPIRE

Opening thursday 26 may 2016, from 6pm Exhibition from 26 may until 18 june 2016

Alex Brown, Blanket, 2015 - Oil on canvas, 52.5 x 52.5 inches - © André Morin Courtesy Galerie Triple V

From 26th May until 18th June, Triple V gallery will present the work of American artist Alex Brown for the first time in Paris with the exhibition Internal Empire. Born in 1966 in Des Moines, Iowa, Alex Brown is a painter and designer. A follower of figurative painting, bordering on abstraction, his meticulous compositions refer to Optical Art and Pop Art. The subjects of Alex Brown’s paintings are found in the press or on the internet. He subsequently decomposes them by applying imaginary frameworks or exaggerated pixilation, then once re-focusing the image within a virtual composition it is realised in the most classic of media, oil paint. Alex Brown’s work has been exhibited, most notably at the MoMA PS1. It has also been shown at the galleries Feature Inc. (New York), Blondeau F.A.S. (Geneva) and Minmin (Tokyo). His work is included in several public collections in the US and across Europe and in 2000 he was awarded the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award.

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ALEX BROWN, BIOGRAPHY Selection of exhibitions 2015 The Painter of Modern Life, Anton Kern Gallery, New York; curated by Bob Nickas 2014 Alex Brown: Selected Drawings 2011-2014 Marc Jancou Contemporary, New York Das Optische Unbewusste / The Optical Unconcious, Gebert Foundation, Rapperswil, Switzerland; curated by Bob Nickas 2011 Free. Dumb. Twig Gallery, Brussels Bodybraingame, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago Chuck Close, Alex Brown, Fabian Marcaccio, Thomas Nozkowski, BravinLee Programs, New York 2010 Nobody Knows This is Somewhere, Blondeau Fine Art Services, Geneva The Jewel Thief, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY; curated by Ian Berry and Jessica Stockholder 2009 Fodderland Feature Inc., New York Why Painting Now, BFAS/Blondeau Fine Art Services, Geneva 2008 Gallery Minmin, Tokyo Shit, Feature Inc., New York Déformalismes, Praz-Delavallade Gallery, Paris; curated by Vincent Pecoil

Alex Brown, Gang, 2015 Huile sur toile, 157,5 x 140,5 cm © André Morin Courtesy Galerie Triple V

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ALEX BROWN AND THE DIGITAL IMAGES PRODUCTION BY VINCENT PÉCOIL Alex Brown’s paintings update the great tradition of landscapes and portraits, nudes, seascapes, interiors and still lifes. He works from found photographs—generally quiet and lacking in any obvious emotional impact—taken from postcards, travel brochures, press cuttings, and the Internet, and his initial attraction to an image often has to do with some small area of color.

Brown’s paintings never completely divulge their secrets the first time we see them. The subject only comes into focus as the viewer moves away; as one approaches the painting, it disappears.

In paintings from the mid-’90s, Brown imposed a series of transformations on this material, turning to computer graphics programs in his preparatory work to break the images up into pixels. These pixels, which both defined and abstracted the original picture, evolved over time from squares to overlapping circles and interlocking tile patterns, finally breaking free of the Op-art-like grid entirely to become free form shapes. These recent paintings also function as modern equivalents to the anamorphoses—unrecognizably distorted images—hidden the paintings of early masters. Although Brown returns from time to time to the pixilation of his earlier work, the patterns in the paintings here are more often intuitive than geometric. The images that appear out of their disorganized forms are more like apparitions than appearances—phantasmagoria emerging from the surface of the painting. In this way, Brown’s work maintains its link with photography: The image is revealed slowly, as in the developing of a photographic print. Here, however, it is often the titles that play the part of the developer, providing a key to unpacking the images. Brown deliberately distances himself from his sources. Working from pre-existing images—pictures that are “already out” as Richard Prince once said—is a way for Brown to leave the largest possible part of himself outside the painting. This distancing is accentuated by Brown’s working method: Diorama, a pixilated image that refers back to earlier paintings, is a blown-out, low-resolution digital file pulled off the Web, and the title suggests that the landscape depicted might itself be only an approximation of reality. Brown’s paintings never completely divulge their secrets the first time we see them. The subject only comes into focus as the viewer moves away; as one approaches the painting, it disappears. In those works where one image nearly supplants another, the painting becomes almost abstract. In all of Brown’s work, the subject always seems more or less camouflaged. Perhaps he is expressing a distrust of an image’s ability to tell the whole truth, or an interest in an image’s ability to tell more than one truth. Text by Vincent Pécoil for the exhibition catalogue Blondeau Fine Art Services, Geneva, 2005

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VISUALS FOR USE BY THE PRESS

Alex Brown, 1981 2015 Oil on canvas, 68 x 51 inches © André Morin Courtesy Galerie Triple V

Alex Brown, R-1, 2015 Watercolor on paper. 12.25 x 16.125 inches © André Morin, Courtesy galerie Triple V

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VISUALS FOR USE BY THE PRESS

Alex Brown, Turret, 2016 Oil on canvas. 66.5 x 55.5 inches © André Morin Courtesy galerie Triple V

Alex Brown, Ben, 2015 Oil on canvas. 53 x 71 inches © André Morin Courtesy galerie Triple V

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VISUALS FOR USE BY THE PRESS

Alex Brown, Bed, 2016 Oil on canvas 55.5 x 73.5 inches © André Morin Courtesy Galerie Triple V

Alex Brown, Untitled, 2013 Watercolor on paper. 20 x 14.25 inches (framed) © André Morin Courtesy galerie Triple V

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VISUALS FOR USE BY THE PRESS

Alex Brown, 1985, 2015 Oil on canvas 70.5 x 60.5 inches © André Morin Courtesy galerie Triple V

Alex Brown, Untitled, 2013 Watercolor on paper 14 x 20 inches (framed) © André Morin Courtesy galerie Triple V

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VISUALS FOR USE BY THE PRESS

Alex Brown, 1974, 2015 Oil on canvas. 50.5 x 45.5 inches © André Morin Courtesy galerie Triple V

Alex Brown, Untitled, 2013 Watercolor on paper 14 x 20 inches (framed) © André Morin Courtesy galerie Triple V

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VISUALS FOR USE BY THE PRESS

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TRIPLE V, TWO SPACES IN PARIS Galerie Triple V was founded in 2007 in Dijon by Vincent Pécoil, Virginie Guillerot and Olivier Vadrot. Triple V refers to the founders’ initials and is a nod to the surrealist New York magazine VVV published during the Second World War. First created as a production entity and publishing house, Triple V quickly and logically developed a gallery activity, representing artists such as Jens Haaning, Gianni Motti, Blair Thurman and Pierre Vadi in the first three years (2007-2010).

AN ADDITIONAL SPACE FOR GALERIE TRIPLE V 5 rue du mail - paris 2ème

On 4th February 2016, Galerie Triple V inaugurated its second exhibition space on 5, rue du Mail, in the second arrondissement of Paris close to Place des Victoires. Inaugural exhibition view rue du Mail Photo : André Morin

Made up of a vast hall of 30m long and 13m wide, a total surface area of 500m2 with a ceiling height of 4m, this new exhibition space finds itself in an old fabric factory, and preserves the industrial aspect. It is in this highly creative area that the gallery can bring its resolutely contemporary touch to a privileged space which also sees the instalment of its first contemporary art gallery. Galerie Triple V has been working since 2007 to present both French and international contemporary artists from various generations and aesthetic horizons to abstract, conceptual, pop and minimalist approaches. Developed in partnership with art dealer Laurent Strouk, this new space will allow Galerie Triple V to take its support and collection of artists to a higher level, enriched by the arrival of two new artists: Alex Brown and Lauren Montaron.

DOSSIER DE PRESSE

TRIPLE V − PROJECTS 24 rue louise weiss, paris 13 ème Galerie rue Louise Weiss becomes Triple V - Projects

Exhibition view ‘‘Science Fiction #3’’, Triple V, Paris, 2012 - Photo : André Morin ; courtesy : Triple V, Paris

During the summer of 2010, the gallery moved to 24 rue Louise Weiss, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. An old industrial area, it welcomes places dedicated to new practices of contemporary art (such as Air de Paris, l’espace Ygrec…). A rapidly changing area, the dynamic location has established itself, especially with the upcoming opening of Halle Freyssinet, a renovated industrial centre that will house 1,000 digital start-up companies. Since 2010, 34 exhibitions have been shown in this space, the majority of them being monographic. There have been some exceptions however, such as Science-fiction #3 (2012), the reconstruction of the eponymous show organised by Peter Halley in the 1980s or even Catalogue of the Exhibition (2011), a photographic exhibition by Bob Nickas, or more recently a group show by Servane Mary, John Miller, Olivier Mosset and Virginia Overton (2015). With the opening of its new space on rue du Mail, the gallery on rue Louise Weiss became Triple V – Projects and is dedicating itself to the continuation of nurturing emerging talents and the support of young contemporary creation led by Vincent Pécoil. It will be supported by critic and curator, Ana Mendoza Aldana.

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VINCENT PÉCOIL, FOUNDER OF TRIPLE V

Vincent Pécoil graduated in 1997 with an M.Phil in philosophy and another in History of Art from the university of Dijon. In the 2000s he became a professor of History of Art (Beaux-Arts de Besançon, EMA – Fructidor de Chalon-sur-Saône, Ecole du Magasin). He is also a participant and jury, on an ad-hoc basis, for several art schools (Dijon, Cergy, Lausanne…) Since 1997, Vincent Pécoil has thrown himself into the organisation of numerous exhibitions such as The Freak Show for the Musée d’Art Comtemporain, Lyon (2007), then Monnaie de Paris (2008) and N’importe quoi at the Musée d’Art Contemporain , Lyon(2009). From 2004 to 2008, he was the co-artistic director of La Salle de Bains, Lyon with Olivier Vadrot. As an art critic, he is a member of the French section of AICA (Association Interntionale de Critiques d’Art). He is part of several scientific and technical committees such as the Abattoirs de Toulouse, FRAC (Fonds Régional d’art contemporain) Île-de-France and FRAC Franche-Comté. He is the author of several works including Blair Thurman (edition Karma – NY, 2015), John Tremblay (edition Jean-Michel Place, 2005), Ohms and Amps, Amps and Ohms (Les Presse du Réel, 2005) and even Prières américaines (Les Presses du Réel, 2002). For Triple V he has also published many books including Delphine Reist: Baril, Parking, Caddies, Sous les drapeaux… (2012) and Pierre Vadi. Hôtel (2011).

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PRACTICAL INFORMATION GALERIE TRIPLE V

5 rue du Mail 75002 Paris info@triple-v.fr +33 (0)1.45.84.08.36 open tuesday to saturday from 11am until 7pm

TRIPLE V - PROJECTS

24 rue Louise Weiss 75013 Paris info@triple-v.fr +33 (0)1.45.84.08.36 open tuesday to saturday from 11am until 7pm

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS TRIPLE V – 5 RUE DU MAIL Le Tour de l’Exposition (Tour of the Exhibition) 7 JULY - 24 JULY 2016

Servane Mary

9 SEPTEMBER - 23 OCTOBER 2016

TRIPLE V –PROJECTS Monstres et Madones

Curated by Ana Mendoza Aldana 7 MAY 2016 - MID JUNE

PRESS CONTACT - AGENCE COMMUNIC’ART Lindsey Marsh - lmarsh@communicart.fr 01.43.20.12.13 15