ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Tony Brown's 'low modernism' and autistic art

opinion-review · 2026-04-24

In a 1986 article for artpress, critic assesses Tony Brown's work as embodying a 'low modernism' characterized by autistic tendencies. The richness of an artistic proposition is measured by the overflow of discourse it generates, which also serves as a measure, expression, and escape from the synthesis achieved in the work. Brown's practice belongs to this order.

Key facts

  • Article published in artpress in September 1986
  • Critic discusses Tony Brown's work
  • Concept of 'low modernism' (bas-modernisme) introduced
  • Autism used as a metaphor for artistic approach
  • Work's richness measured by discourse overflow
  • Discourse overflow is also an escape from synthesis
  • Brown's work exemplifies this dynamic
  • Article originally in French

Entities

Artists

  • Tony Brown

Institutions

  • artpress

Sources