Lorna Brown (born 1958) is a Canadian artist,

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

and writer. Her work focuses on

public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads (including the pavement), public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to ...

social phenomena Social phenomena or social phenomenon (singular) are any behaviours, actions, or events that takes place because of social influence, including from contemporary as well as historical societal influences. They are often a result of multifaceted pr ...

such as

boredom In conventional usage, boredom, ennui, or tedium is an emotional and occasionally psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, is listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occu ...

, and institutional structures and systems.

Background

Lorna Brown was born in

Oxbow, Saskatchewan Oxbow is a List of towns in Saskatchewan, town in the southeast of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located on the Canadian Pacific Railway and on Saskatchewan Highway 18, Provincial Highway 18. It ...

, Canada. She started exhibiting her work in 1984. Brown taught studio and critical studies which includes art, design and media history, humanities, and social science courses at

Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art university located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The university's campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus in Strathcona. The university is a co-e ...

and Simon Fraser University's School for Contemporary Arts from 1989-1999. From 1999-2004, Brown was the director and curator of Artspeak, one of many

Canadian artist-run centres Canadian artist-run centres (ARC or ARCs) are galleries and art spaces developed by artists in Canada since the 1960s. Artist-run centre is the common term of use for artist-initiated and managed organizations in Canada. Most centres follow the not- ...

in Vancouver, B.C. and is currently the Associate Director/Curator at the

Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the campus of the University of British Columbia. The gallery is housed in an award-winning building designed by architect Peter Cardew and o ...

at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Exhibitions

*''Carets, strike-outs, underlines, circles and dots'', 2014, Publication Studio, Vancouver, British Columbia. *''As One Does, Beside Yourself'', 2014, AHVA Gallery,

, Vancouver, British Columbia *''Threshold/Cont.,'' 2009, Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery at the

. *''The Structure of Boredom (after Oden)'', The Chatter of Culture, 2007, Artspeak, Vancouver, British Columbia *''Cleave'', 1999, Dazibao, Montreal, Quebec *''Once Removed'', 1992,

Contemporary Art Gallery A contemporary art gallery is normally a commercial art gallery operated by an art dealer which specializes in displaying for sale contemporary art, usually new works of art by living artists. This approach has been called the "Castelli Method" ...

, Vancouver, British Columbia *''Reading'', 1990, Artspeak, Vancouver, British Columbia; Photographer's Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Belkin Satellite, Vancouver, British Columbia *''Measure'', 1990, Evoking Place, Photographer's Gallery, Saskatoon Saskatchewan;

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it is ...

, Montreal, Quebec;

Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (CMCP) (french: Le Musée canadien de la photographie contemporaine (MCPC)) was a gallery of Canadian contemporary art and documentary photography. Founded in 1985 and affiliated to the National Galle ...

, Ottawa, Ontario;

McMaster Museum of Art The McMaster Museum of Art (MMA) is a non-profit public art gallery at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The museum is located in the centre of the campus, attached to Mills Memorial Library and close to the McMaster University Student Cen ...

, Hamilton, Ontario

Curatorial

Lorna Brown has been an independent curator since 2004. ''Digital Natives'' a public art project with Other Sights for Artists' Projects, a non-profit arts organization in Vancouver, B.C. was commissioned by the City of Vancouver for the city's 125th anniversary. ''Digital Natives'' utilized an electronic billboard, located on Skwxwú7mesh territory and visible from

Burrard Bridge The Burrard Street Bridge (sometimes referred to as the Burrard Bridge) is a four-lane, Art Deco style, steel truss bridge constructed in 1930–1932 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The high, five part bridge on four piers spans Fal ...

, to share a curated series of Twitter messages in English and Skwxwú7mesh. Brown curated ''Beginning with the Seventies'', a research project that investigated feminism, art, and activism in Vancouver in the 1970s and beyond. ''Beginning with the Seventies'' culminated in several exhibitions at the

, such as ''GLUT'' in 2018''. GLUT'' featured women artists and writers such as

Alexandra Bischoff Alexandra Bischoff (born 1991 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian artist who works primarily in Performance art, performance, with an emphasis on Human sexuality, sexuality and feminism. She lives and works in Montreal, Montréal, Quebec. Life a ...

Lisa Robertson Lisa Robertson (born July 22, 1961) is a Canadian poet, essayist and translator. She lives in France. Life and work Born in Toronto, Ontario, Robertson moved to British Columbia in 1979, first living on Saltspring Island, then in Vancouver, wh ...

Gathie Falk Gathie Falk is a Canadian painter, sculptor, installation and performance artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Since the 1960s, she has created works that consider the simple beauty of everyday items and daily rituals. Life and work Ga ...

, Laiwan,

Divya Mehra Divya Mehra is a Canadian artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Known for her meticulous attention to the interaction of form, medium and site, Mehra's work deals with her diasporic experiences and historical narratives. She incorporates found artifact ...

Evelyn Roth Evelyn Roth (born December 27, 1936) is an interdisciplinary artist who has worked in the areas of textiles, sculpture, performance, dance and interactive fabric arts. She specializes in environmentally sensitive events, festivals, school program ...

Elizabeth Zvonar Elizabeth Zvonar (born 1972) is a Canadian contemporary artist who works primarily with mixed-media collage and sculpture based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is currently represented by Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canad ...

, and

Judith Copithorne Judith Copithorne (born 1939) is a Canadian concrete and visual poet. Life and career Judith Copithorne grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, in an artistic family. She started writing and drawing at an early age and, by the time she attende ...

among many more.

Writing

Lorna Brown contributes essays, reviews, and interviews to publications such as

Fillip Fillip is a Vancouver-based contemporary art publishing organization formed in 2004. It publishes a magazine as well as books of critical writing. The magazine with the same name was started in 2005. The publisher of the magazine is the Project ...

and

The Capilano Review ''The Capilano Review'' (''TCR'') is a Canadian tri-annual literary magazine located and published in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh ...

. Her writing also appears in exhibition catalogues, journals and books. Select examples include: *''Beginning with the Seventies'', Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2019. *''Supplement: Critical and Bibliographic Review''. Montreal Artexte Editions, Montreal, Quebec, 2009. *''Ethics of Luxury: Materialism and Imagination'', Jeanne Randolph, Ihor Holubizky and Anthony Kiendl, YYZ Books, Toronto, Ontario; PlugIn Editions, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 2007. *''Detained by the Camera'', Catalogue Essay: "Don Gill's D'Arcy Island",

Southern Alberta Art Gallery The Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin is a contemporary art gallery located in downtown Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. It has three gallery spaces and a gift shop. History In 1974, local residents formed the Southern Alber ...

, Lethbridge, Alberta *''Directional Language, Off Printing: Situating Publishing Practices in Artist Run Centres'', Conference Proceedings, RCAAQ, Quebec, 2005. *''Public Ideals'', Prefix Photo 9, May 2004. *''Unfinished Business'', The Rain Review of Books, Issue 4:2, Summer Autumn 2006, Vancouver.

Projects

*''Ruins in Process: Vancouver Art in the Sixties''

Collections

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

, Ottawa, Ontario *Surrey Art Gallery (Searchable through artefacts Canada national database) *

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

- Art Bank (searchable through the Art Bank database) * British Columbia Arts Council (collection not searchable online)

Awards and honours

*Canada Council for the Arts Paris Studio Award, 2000 (searchable in their database). *Recipient of the Vancouver Institute for the Visual Arts, 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Lorna 1958 births Living people 20th-century Canadian artists 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian artists 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women artists Canadian art curators Artists from British Columbia Artists from Saskatchewan Canadian women non-fiction writers Writers from British Columbia Writers from Saskatchewan University of British Columbia people Canadian women curators