The Demon Menagerie

A fundamental aim of Cecily Brown is to encourage concentrated looking. As she has explained, “One of the main things I would like my work to do is to reveal itself slowly, continuously, and for you never to feel that you’re really finished looking at something.” While she has always considered herself to be a figurative painter, she is particularly interested in the moment at which a figure breaks down into something less recognizable. This state of flux characterizes her work: in her words, “the whole figurative/abstract thing is about not wanting to name something, not pin it down. I’ve never wanted to let go of the figure, but it keeps wanting to disappear. It’s always a fight to hold on.”