I approach painting conceptually, with each body of work determining its own visual language rather than adhering to a fixed style. The manner of painting operates in tandem with the subject matter, shaping meaning as much as image. Drawing from the histories of both art and America, I use historical forms to engage contemporary experience, allowing past and present to collapse into one another so that time moves in more than one direction at once. Within this framework, each painting becomes a kind of self-portrait, shaped by my position within the structures of race, power, and consumption that have defined American history.

Humor and surrealism run throughout the work, creating points of entry while disrupting easy interpretation. The paintings do not seek resolution so much as they hold contradiction and uncertainty. I hope they produce a shared sense of strangeness and estrangement—an awareness of the limits of understanding 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 was an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Painting in the Fine Arts program at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and is currently teaching at Bucks County Community College.

“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]