Melissa Brown on Cat-Eye Makeup, Collage Techniques, and Her Flatbush Studio
Born in 1974 in Morristown, New Jersey, Melissa Brown has been applying cat-eye makeup daily since her teenage years, drawing inspiration from her artwork and ancient Egyptian customs. Her artistic practice merges photography, plein-air painting, CMYK printing, airbrush techniques, and stenciling, with some pieces incorporating QR codes. One notable work, "Commute" (2020), illustrates a hand adorned with press-on nails inside a subway car during the pandemic. Based in a studio in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Brown earned her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from Yale University. She teaches at Lehman College and co-curated the exhibition "Does This Taste Funny? Humor in Contemporary Art." Her solo exhibition "Window Shopping" was held at Derek Eller Gallery, which has represented her since 2017.
Key facts
- Melissa Brown was born in 1974 in Morristown, New Jersey, and grew up near Philadelphia
- She holds a BFA in Printmaking from RISD and an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Yale, and attended Skowhegan in 2000
- Her painting "Commute" (2020), flashe, acrylic and oil on Dibond, references British Vorticist Sybil Andrews
- Brown's studio is on the second floor of a Flatbush, Brooklyn building with a deli below and a braiding salon above
- She teaches at Lehman College of the City University of New York
- She co-curated "Does This Taste Funny? Humor in Contemporary Art" at Lehman College Art Gallery and Sarah Lawrence College's Heimbold Visual Arts Center
- Her solo exhibition "Window Shopping" was held at Derek Eller Gallery in New York, where she has shown since 2017
- Brown has worn cat-eye makeup daily since her teenage years
Entities
Artists
- Melissa Brown
- Sybil Andrews
- Ben Franklin
Institutions
- Hyperallergic
- Rhode Island School of Design
- Yale University
- Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
- Lehman College
- City University of New York
- Lehman College Art Gallery
- Sarah Lawrence College
- Heimbold Visual Arts Center
- Derek Eller Gallery
- Ben Franklin Museum
- Woods-Gerry Gallery
Locations
- Morristown
- New Jersey
- United States
- Philadelphia
- Pennsylvania
- Center City
- Brooklyn
- New York
- Flatbush
- Brooklyn Bridge
- Egypt