Joan Brown, The Journey #5, 1976. Enamel on canvas. 90 1/2 x 72 3/4 inches.
Collection of the Orange County Museum of Art, California.
Joan Brown is included in 13 Women, a multi-generational group exhibition at the Orange County Museum of Art, California.
Curated by Heidi Zuckerman, 13 Women is organized in celebration of the OCMA’s 60th anniversary, presenting work from the 1960s to the present by artists central to the museum’s collection. Included is this self-portrait by Joan Brown, from a series of paintings that chronicle both a physical and spiritual journey. In the late 1970s, Brown began traveling extensively; around the same time, and certainly influenced by these travels, her work became increasingly steeped in spiritual and personal symbolism. This transformation lead to paintings such as The Journey #5, (1976) that “indicate a journey of the heart, mind, and visual senses”.
13 Women is on view at the Orange County Museum of Art through August 20, 2023.