I approach painting conceptually, allowing each body of work to develop its own visual language. The way a painting is made is inseparable from what it depicts, shaping meaning as much as the image itself. Drawing from the histories of art and America, I bring historical forms into the present, collapsing distinctions between past and contemporary experience. Each painting becomes a kind of self-portrait, reflecting my position within the systems of race, power, and consumption that shape American history.

Humor and surrealism run throughout the work, creating openings into subjects that resist straightforward interpretation. Rather than resolving contradiction, the paintings hold it in suspension. They seek a sense of strangeness and estrangement—a recognition of how difficult it is to fully understand the world.

Biography

Charles Browning received his BFA from California College of the Arts and his MFA from New York University. His work has been exhibited in galleries in New York and in group exhibitions nationally. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, author Lynda Gene Rymond. Browning was an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Painting in the Fine Arts program at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and currently teaches 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]