My work uses painting in a conceptual fashion, approaching each new project with a fresh perspective as to how it might be painted rather than being tied to one manner of working. The chosen style works in conjunction with my subject to create deeper content. There are references to the history of art and of America. The use of the confirmedly historical with contemporary themes allows the ripples of time to flow both ways. Within this framework each piece becomes a self-portrait. My paintings address my identity as a white man in the structures of race and power in American history and look at that role in the development of a society of luxury and consumption. They also frequently explore my identity and journey as an artist. The reoccurring frontiersman is a proxy representing me as an artist – moving forward, exploring, struggling – but also touches on my family’s colonial past, America’s fraught history, and environmental destruction. Lastly, I add a sense of humor and of the surreal to link the work together and offer entry. As with so much art, these thoughts and interpretations that flow through me as I work may not all be accessible to the average viewer. With them I wish for a bond of strangeness and estrangement: of the impossibility of perfect resolution and the difficulty of being human.

Charles Browning received his BFA from the California College of the Arts, and his
MFA from New York University. He has shown with galleries in New York and in group shows nationally. He currently resides in Pennsylvania with his wife, the author Lynda Gene Rymond. He is an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Painting in the Fine Arts program at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

“Everything in Nature is lyrical in its ideal essence, tragic in its fate, and comic in its existence.”

- George Santayana

CV

Education

MFA 2004 Studio Art (Painting,) New York University

BFA 1987 Drawing/Illustration, California College of the Arts

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2024 "YOU GORGEOUS THING," 14bc Gallery, New York, New York

2018 “Death and Distraction,” The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2017 “Unsettling,” The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2011 “Beauty Trap,” Schroeder Romero Gallery, NY

2008 “Remembering to Forget,” Schroeder Romero Gallery, NY

2005 “Weasel Pop,” Jack the Pelican Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023 “Spooky Action at a Distance,” 14bc Gallery, New York, New York

2020 “Homage,” Manifest Creative Research Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

2019 “Afflatus,” 5-50 Gallery, Long Island City, NY

2017 “The Perpetual Figure,” University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2015 “The Big Show 9,” Silas Marder, Bridgehampton, NY

2014 “Breathless,” Rush Arts Gallery, NYC

2013 “The Big Show 8,” Silas Marder Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY

2012 “The Romantic Impulse: Currents in Contemporary Art/Part II,” Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

“Painting is History,” Winkleman Gallery, NY, NY

2011 “History of What,” Silas Marder Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY

“BBBBad,” Anna Kustera Gallery, NYC

2010 “Hunt & Chase,” Salomon Contemporary, East Hampton, NY

Professional Experience

2020 - Present Adjunct Professor, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2016 - 2020 Visiting Assistant Professor, Painting, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2012 - 2015 Master Lecturer, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2006 - 2012 Senior Lecturer, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2005 - 2016 Part-time faculty, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, PA

Curatorial

2019 The University of the Arts: “Sites of Dissolution,” Jackie Tileston; “Landvaettir & Sweet Darkness,” Michelle Oosterbaan

2018 The University of the Arts: “On Feelings and Strangeness,” Stephen W. Evans; “New Work,” Ryan McCartney

2017 The University of the Arts: “Turtle Island” Contemporary Native American Art [w/Tlisza Jaurique and Marcus Zilliox]; “Time Line,” Charles Cooper [w/Marcelino Stuhmer]; “Under the Volcano,” Tom Judd [w/Marcelino Stuhmer]; “Carved Time,” Arden Bendler Browning [w/Marcelino Stuhmer]

2016 The University of the Arts: “Transmissions,” Tim McFarlane [w/Marcelino Stuhmer]