GALEN BROWN
Detail of OCD, 6’ x 6’ drawing, created over the course of 25 years. Photograph by Chris Holloman for the Nevada Museum of Art
Galen Brown (1959–2024) developed a singular artistic practice that explored the expressive potential of the line. Working across drawing, sculpture, and installation, he transformed repetition into a rigorous investigation of time, perception, and memory. Whether through the rhythmic accumulations of his Waves drawings or the projected shadows of his sculptural Shadowcasters, Brown demonstrated how the simplest visual gesture could evoke the complexity of lived experience. Rooted in the landscape of Lake Tahoe, where he grew up, his work does not depict place so much as distill its rhythms into an abstract visual language that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.
Brown's work occupies a distinctive place within contemporary abstraction, engaging with the legacies of Minimalism, Process Art, and conceptual drawing while maintaining a voice entirely his own. His sustained commitment to seriality, material precision, and quiet observation has earned recognition from collectors, curators, and museums interested in artists who expand the possibilities of drawing beyond representation. Following his passing, Brown's oeuvre stands as a complete and finite body of work whose intellectual depth, formal clarity, and enduring relevance continue to reward sustained looking and scholarly attention.
Prime (circa 2018) Shadow caster / drawing, 6.5 foot x 4.5” x 2.5” Ink on museum board, steel metal support. Galen Brown. Photograph by Frances Melhop
Circle drawings and trees installations by Galen Brown at the Nevada Museum of Art in his solo exhibition Sinecere. Photograph by Chris Holloman.
Galen Brown
1959-2024
Galen Brown was born in Reno in 1959 and raised in both Reno and at King’s Beach, Lake Tahoe. He was a dedicated junior ski racer on the Reno Falcons ski team and later the Lake Tahoe Ski Club, and a quiet loner in school who lacked direction until a ski accident rendered him immobile for six months. He began drawing from his bed while healing.
Brown commenced classes at the San Francisco Art Institute and stayed for the duration of his formal art education, earning a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in 1988 and a Master of Fine Arts in 1990. He continued studying in China and New York, and for the following 20 years Brown resisted selling his work to collectors, preferring to keep his bodies of work together.
In 2019 the Nevada Museum of Art installed his solo exhibition Sine Cere, across 3 of their expansive gallery spaces and purchased Sine Cere, the title piece, one of the large 8 foot radius circle drawings for their permanent collection.
A large body of Brown’s work was featured in Tilting the Basin, the Nevada Museum of Art survey exhibition of contemporary artists working in the state of Nevada in 2016, which also traveled to a second Museum location in Las Vegas in 2017. His work is also in the permanent collection of the Nevada Arts Council, and the newly founded Clear Creek Collection at Lake Tahoe.
The quality of Brown’s work was acknowledged with the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation artist’s award in 2017.
Small waves series black and white, ink drawings on museum board mounted on aluminum with wooden rear frame, each 7” x 5” x 1.5”
Waves series
Galen Brown’s Waves series extends his ongoing investigation into time, accumulation, and the perceptual structures of drawing. Executed in ink, these works translate the mutable surface of Lake Tahoe into systems of mark-making that oscillate between description and abstraction. The horizontal lines — sometimes rhythmic, sometimes fractured — trace the behavior of water through subtle modulations of density, spacing, and pressure.
Rather than pursuing the expansion of a singular image, Brown worked across serial multiples, allowing meaning to emerge from the aggregation of slight differences across a grid-like typology. The result is both optical and temporal: the viewer apprehends duration not as narrative, but as the slow accretion of gesture. The series reflects Brown’s deep engagement with the Tahoe landscape, not as motif but as generative structure — a site where repetition, memory, and observation converge to form a quiet but rigorous meditation on the passage of time.
The original Waves series, 135 drawings exploring line, mark making and color, as a single installation not to be separated. Each drawing approx 12” x 8” x 1.5” pencil, colored pencil, ink on museum board mounted on aluminium. Installed here at the Nevada Museum of Art in Brown’s solo exhibition Sinecere. Photograph by Chris Holloman.
Small waves series, ink drawings on museum board mounted on aluminum with wooden rear frame, each 7” x 5” x 1.5”
Small waves series, ink drawings on museum board mounted on aluminum with wooden rear frame, each 7” x 5” x 1.5”
Smallest waves series set - installation dimensions 22 × 19 × 1 .5 in. Each drawing 4.5" x 3" x 1.5" Note: these Smallest Waves are the last work ever made by Galen Brown. Dec 2023
Small waves series, ink drawings on museum board mounted on aluminum with wooden rear frame, each 7” x 5” x 1.5”
Small waves series, ink drawings on museum board mounted on aluminum with wooden rear frame, each 7” x 5” x 1.5”
Small waves series, black and white, ink drawings on museum board mounted on aluminum with wooden rear frame, each 7” x 5” x 1.5”
Shadowcasters
Galen Brown’s Waves series and his sculptural Shadowcasters extend a shared inquiry into time, repetition, and the memory of place. The Waves drawings translate the surface of Lake Tahoe into rhythmic accumulations of inked lines — traverses that tighten, break, and disperse, echoing the play of wind and light across water. In their serial accumulation, Brown finds a temporal structure, where each mark registers both the gesture of the hand and the duration of looking.
The Shadowcasters bring this investigation into three dimensions: elongated, linear forms whose projections recall the piers and jetties of Brown’s childhood on Tahoe’s shore. When lit, they cast tiered shadows like those wooden structures in the 1970s, extending the logic of the drawings into space. Together, the works explore how line, light, and memory converge — transforming landscape into an instrument for tracing the persistence of time.
Pulse, Shadow caster / Drawing, 12 foot x 4.5” x 2.5” Ink on museum board, steel metal support
Detail of Prime (circa 2018) Shadow caster / drawing, 6.5 foot x 4.5” x 2.5” Ink on museum board, steel metal support. Galen Brown. Photograph by Frances Melhop
Long Waves
Drive Through Drawing, Ink on museum board, aluminum support 91 ½” x 4 2/3” x 1 ½” 6100
Long Waves
Unlike the more intimate Waves drawings, Brown's elongated horizontal works transform the experience of looking into something physical. Stretching across the wall, their panoramic proportions echo the horizon of Lake Tahoe itself. Yet rather than allowing the eye to travel across horizontal bands of water, Brown rotates the logic of the wave. The rhythmic marks rise vertically, creating a visual tension between the format of the landscape and the movement within it.
This inversion is significant. The vertical wave patterns no longer describe the surface of water as seen from above. Instead, they register energy moving through the picture plane, suggesting currents, wind, light, or the continual exchange between lake and sky. The drawings become less descriptive and more phenomenological, asking viewers to experience movement rather than recognize it.
The extreme horizontal format also introduces time as duration. Like a shoreline, a pier, or a cinematic panorama, the works unfold as the viewer walks alongside them. They cannot be comprehended from a single glance but reveal themselves sequentially, making the act of viewing analogous to moving through a landscape. Brown transforms drawing from a static image into an experience measured by the body.
Seen alongside the Shadowcasters, these works become even more compelling. Both extend line into architecture. The Shadowcasters project linear forms into space through light, while the elongated Waves drawings stretch drawing beyond conventional scale, allowing it to occupy the wall with the presence of a horizon. Together they reveal Brown's enduring concern with how line can construct not only images but environments, and how memory of Lake Tahoe continued to shape his work in increasingly abstract and spatial ways.
Long Waves series.
TOP: Untitled pink beside green, 2022, ink on museum board mounted on aluminum, mounted on wooden frame with aluminum backing. 4.25” x 35.5” x 1.5”
MIDDLE: Untitled, aqua beside blue, 2022, ink on museum board mounted on aluminum, mounted on wooden frame with aluminum backing, 4.75” x 32” x 1.5”
BOTTOM: Untitled, green beside red, 2022, ink on museum board mounted on aluminum, mounted on wooden frame with aluminum backing. 4” x 32” x 1.5”
Circle series
Making sounds and Avoiding Obstacles while driving in Circles during a Snow Storm.
Galen Brown 2020
Untitled #1 “Circle Series” pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 19” x 16” x 1 ½” PRIVATE COLLECTION
Untitled #2 “Circle Series” pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 13 1/8th” x 8 1/2” x 1 3/4”
Untitled #4 “Circle Series” pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 8 5/8th” x 8 5/8” x 2 1/2” PRIVATE COLLECTION
Untitled #5 “Circle Series” (black with white circles) pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 9 1/2” x 7 6/8” x 1 1/2” PRIVATE COLLECTION
Untitled #3 “Circle Series” pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 10” x 10” x 1 1/2”
Untitled #6 “Circle Series” pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 8” x 10” x 1 1/2” PRIVATE COLLECTION
Untitled #7 “Circle Series” (black with white circles) pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 8” x 8” x 2 1/2”
Untitled #8 “Circle Series” (black with white circles) pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 8 2/8” x 8 2/8” x 2 1/2”
Untitled #9 “Circle Series” pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 6 3/8th” x 6 1/8th” x 1 3/4” PRIVATE COLLECTION
Untitled #10 “Circle Series” pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 7 5/8th” x 4” x 1 1/2”
“Period .” - “Circle Series” (black on black cube) pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on wooden frame 4 1/2” x 3 1/2” x 3”
First Aid from the Sinecere exhibition
"First Aid" Ink on Museum Board moounted on aluminum on plywood frame. 84" x 84" x 3" approx circa 2008-9
Detail of "First Aid"
Detail of "First Aid" photographs by Chris Holloman for the Nevada Museum of Art, Galen Brown solo show "Sinecere"
Walls and Doors series
Intaglio Mezzotint limited edition works
Walls and doors series #01 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 7 7/8th x 26” Print size: 11 7/8th x 30” (approx.) Edition of 10
Walls, and doors series #2 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 6 6/8th x 36” Print size: 10 6/8th x 40” (approx.) Edition of 10
Walls, and doors series #3 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 5 7/8th x 33” Print size: 9 7/8th x 37” (approx.) Artist Proof
Walls and doors series (darker version) Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 5 7/8th x 33” Print size: 9 7/8th x 37” (approx.) Artist Proof
Walls and doors series (mid range version) Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 5 7/8th x 33” Print size: 9 7/8th x 37” (approx.) Edition of 10
6) Walls and doors series (5 windows) Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 5 7/8th x 32 6/8th” Print size: 9 7/8th x 37” (approx.) Edition of 10
Windows and Doors series
Intaglio Mezzotint limited edition works
Smaller works
Windows and doors #1 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 12.5 x 3.5” Print size: 10 6/8th x 40” (approx.) Edition of 10
Windows and doors (vertical split plate) # 2. Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 6 x 5 ” Print size: 10 x 9” (approx.) Edition of 10
Windows and doors #3 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 6 x 4” Print size: 12.5 x 10” (approx.) Edition of 10
Windows and doors #4. Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 6 x 4” Print size: 12.5 x 10” (approx.) Edition of 10
Windows and Doors #5 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 6 x 4” Print size: 12.5 x 10” (approx.) Edition of 10
Windows and Doors #6. Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 6 x 4” Print size: 12.5 x 10” (approx.) Edition of 10
Windows and Doors #7 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 6 x 4” Print size: 12.5 x 10” (approx.) Edition of 10
Windows and Doors #8 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 6 x 4” Print size: 12.5 x 10” (approx.) Edition of 10
Windows and Doors #9 Mezzotint (on a warmer cream paper) Image area: 6 x 4” Print size: 12.5 x 10” (approx.) Artist Proof
Walls series
Intaglio Mezzotint limited editions.
Small works on paper
Walls and floors #1 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 9 1/8th x 6” Print size: 15 x 12” (approx.) Edition of 10
Walls and floors series Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 8 x 5 2/8” Print size: 14 x 12” (approx.) Edition of 10
Walls and floors series #4 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 8 1/8th x 5 1/8th” Print size: 14” x 11” (approx.) edition of 10
Vertical Walls and Floors #1 Mezzotint on Somerset Satin paper Image area: 6 x 2 2/8th” Print size: 8.5” x 12.5” (approx.) Edition of 10
Inquiries are welcome about the larger circle works shown at the Nevada Museum of Art, at Galen Brown’s solo exhibition Sine Cere
Galen Brown Exhibitions
2026 Layers of Re-iteration, Bristlecone Gallery Western Nevada College, Carson City, NV. An exhibition dedicated to the memories of Nevadan artists Galen Brown and Jim McCormick. Curators Candace Garlock and Frances Melhop with many thanks to Gallery Coordinator Francine Burge.
2026 Elemental Friction, Online Exclusive ARTSY + Melhop Gallery º7077
2026 Waves, solo exhibition, Online Exclusive ARTSY + Melhop Gallery º7077
2025 Layers of Re-iteration, Sierra Arts Gallery, Reno, NV. An exhibition dedicated to the memories of Nevadan artists Galen Brown and Jim McCormick. curators Candace Garlock and Frances Melhop
2022 OCD 2, solo exhibition, Melhop Gallery, Zephyr Cove Nevada.
2021 OCD OCD OCD solo exhibition, Melhop Gallery, Zephyr Cove Nevada.
2019 Sinecere, solo exhibition Nevada Museum of Art, curator JoAnne Northrup
2017 Tilting The Basin, group show Downtown Las Vegas Arts District (920 S. Commerce St.), curator JoAnne Northrup
2016 Tilting The Basin, group show Nevada Museum of Art, curator JoAnne Northrup
2015 Art In progress work on Trees for 6 weeks in the gallery, Group show WNC Carson City NV.
2014 Waves Nevada Humanities Las Vegas NV.
2014 Trees installation, Artist In residence St Marys Art Center Virginia City NV.
2013 Without Edges, group Show TMCC Photos and Prints.
2011 Geographical Divides, Traveling Print Exhibition
2010 2011 Art at the BRIC
2009 2010 Red Blue and Other Colors, WNC Carson City and Fallon Campus
2008 Nevada Arts Council, OXS Gallery, Sine Cere
2008 Waves: Line and Rhythm. Carson City Courthouse, CCAI Gallery
2008 Print Makers Conspiracy group show TMCC
2008 WNC Faculty Group Show
2007 Drawings WNC
1998 Windows Project, City of Oakland Neighborhood, Swing installation
1998 Simple Pleasures, Group Show. Traywick Gallery.
1997 Christmas Group Show, Bedford Gallery
1997 Inaugural Group Show, Traywick Gallery
1997 Discard Secession Gallery, Catharine Clark Gallery
1996 Southern Exposure's Sixth Annual Juried Exhibition: Confess. Juror: Thelma Golden, Associate Curator, and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1996 Discard Secession Gallery, Catharine Clark Gallery
1995 The Frame Show, Palo Alto Cultural Center Invitational
1994 Invitational Book Show, Palo Alto Cultural Center
1990 Masters of Fine Art Exhibition, SF Fort Mason Center
1989 College Art Association Graduate Group Show, San Francisco State University
1984-1989 Spring Show, San Francisco Art Institute
1986 Visiting Student Group Show, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Art, Hangzhou, Peoples Republic of China
1986 Selected Undergraduate Drawings Group Show, Osaka, Japan