Carol K. Brown
Laocoön’s Folly
November 19, 2017 - January 7, 2018
Bio:
Carol K. Brown lives and works in Miami and New York. She has been the recipient of several local and national grants. She has twice been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Grant for an individual artist.
Ms. Brown’s work is in numerous museums and public collections including: Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; The Denver Art Museum; The Herbert Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University; The Frost Art Museum at FIU; Perez Art Museum Miami; The University of Colorado, Boulder; The Tampa Art Museum; The Jacksonville Art Museum; The University of Florida, Gainesville, The Polk Museum of Art; The Lowe Museum of Art; The Memphis Brooks Art Museum; The Arkansas Arts Center – Museum of Arts; The City of Orlando, the State of Florida and Miami-Dade County’s Art in Public Places programs.
exhibition statement:
Brown’s recent paintings reflect her musings on the current state of the world, combining poetics with political engagement. The impetus for these biomorphic abstractions has its roots in the folly of our current world situation and the ancient story of Laocoön.
Laocoön was a Trojan priest who, with his two sons, was attacked by giant serpents sent by the gods. Stories of the attack vary considerably. In the most famous account, Laocoön was killed with both his sons, because he attempted to expose the ruse of the Trojan horse by striking it with a spear. Virgil attributes to Laocoön the famous warning,” Do not trust the horse, Trojans! Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts." Sophocles said that Laocoön, as a priest of Apollo, was required to be celibate but had sons. In other versions, Laocoön was killed for having committed an impiety by making love with his wife in the presence of a cult image in a sanctuary or by simply making a sacrifice in the temple with his wife present. The versions have rather different morals: Laocoön was either punished for being right or for doing wrong. Regardless, the profound outcomes of the story shaped the fate of many…. much like the folly of our current political situation.
Traditionally, watercolor is the stuff of sweetness and light, flowers, beach scenes, and “ladies’ watercolor societies.” In this exhibition, Brown toughens it up, makes it aggressive, and fights back against the madness of the world today.
