James Brown, artist who blended abstraction and figuration, dies in Mexico car crash

James Brown, the American painter known for merging abstraction and figuration with tribal and Art Brut influences, died in a car accident in Mexico. His wife Alexandra was also involved in the crash. Born in Los Angeles in 1951, Brown studied at Immaculate College in Hollywood and École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, graduating in 1974. His first solo show was in 1978 at Gemeentemuseum Arnhem, followed by exhibitions at Christiane et Eric Germain Gallery in Paris. In 1979 he moved to New York, where he connected with East Village artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, and was influenced by Rothko, Tàpies, and Twombly. His early US shows were at Shafrazi Gallery and Leo Castelli Gallery. He also worked with Galleria Lucio Amelio in Naples. In the 1980s his work was linked to Jean Dubuffet's Art Brut. Brown moved to Oaxaca, Mexico in 1995, founding Carpe Diem Press with Alexandra. His works are in collections including MoMA, the Met, Centre Pompidou, and Museo Tamayo. From 2011-2012, GAM Torino held a solo exhibition curated by Danilo Eccher titled "Firmament," featuring a series of nine large paintings and preparatory works from 2007-2010, inspired by Kandinsky's On the Spiritual in Art, Holst's The Planets, and Seidel's The Cosmos Trilogy.