Overview

Coady Brown’s paintings examine how groups, couples, and solitary figures navigate self-presentation in private and public life. Often situated within the drama and darkness of nightlife, Brown’s paintings explore the nuances of moving through the world in a feminized body. Figures are often compressed into tightly framed, intimate spaces that expose the subtle complexities of our interpersonal connections and relationships.

 

Drawing from varied source material—including canonical portraiture, art history, fashion, film, and everyday experiences—Brown orchestrates psychologically charged environments that pulse with a sense of mystery and wonder. Through attention to lighting, vibrant clothing, and high-contrast colors, Brown’s figures’ inscrutable expressions hint at an unknowable and autonomous selfhood, conjuring a precise instant within a specific and stylized world.

 


 

 Coady Brown (b. 1990, lives and works in Philadelphia, PA) is a painter from Baltimore, MD. She received her MFA from Yale University in 2016, and her BFA from Tyler School of Art, Temple University in 2012. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally with Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA; Stems Gallery, Brussels, Belgium; 1969 Gallery, New York, NY; Taymour Grahne, London, England; and Francois Ghebaly, New York, NY; among others. She is the recipient of several fellowships and residencies including Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Madison, ME; The Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA; Fountainhead, Miami, FL; Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT; and the Yale/Norfolk School of Art, Norfolk, CT. Her work has been written about in The New York Times, The Village Voice, Juxtapoz, Variable West, and New American Painting

 

Brown’s works are in the permanent collections of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL, the Columbus Museum of Art, OH, and the X Museum, Beijing, China.

Works
  • Coady Brown, In Pursuit, 2025
    Coady Brown
    In Pursuit, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    40 x 30 in
    101.6 x 76.2 cm
  • Coady Brown, Poison Heart, 2025
    Coady Brown
    Poison Heart, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    46 x 42 in
    116.8 x 106.7 cm
  • Coady Brown, Trick Mirror, 2025
    Coady Brown
    Trick Mirror, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    30 x 24 in
    76.2 x 61 cm
  • Coady Brown, Blind Sided, 2024
    Coady Brown
    Blind Sided, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    54 x 46 in
    137.2 x 116.8 cm
  • Coady Brown, In Bloom, 2024
    Coady Brown
    In Bloom, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    46 x 42 in
    116.8 x 106.7 cm
  • Coady Brown, Kaleidoscope, 2024
    Coady Brown
    Kaleidoscope, 2024
    Oil on canvas
    64 x 54 in
    162.6 x 137.2 cm
  • Coady Brown, A shadow of the dreams we had, 2023
    Coady Brown
    A shadow of the dreams we had, 2023
    Oil on canvas
    72 x 80 in
    182.9 x 203.2 cm
  • Coady Brown, Out of Reach, 2023
    Coady Brown
    Out of Reach, 2023
    Oil on canvas
    72 x 60 in
    182.9 x 152.4 cm
  • Coady Brown, Rabid Heart, 2023
    Coady Brown
    Rabid Heart, 2023
    Oil on canvas
    72 x 60 in
    182.9 x 152.4 cm
  • Coady Brown, Walking Home with Flowers, 2023
    Coady Brown
    Walking Home with Flowers, 2023
    Oil on canvas
    54 x 46 in
    137.2 x 116.8 cm
  • Coady Brown, Where the shadows lie, 2023
    Coady Brown
    Where the shadows lie, 2023
    Oil on canvas
    40 x 30 in
    101.6 x 76.2 cm
  • Coady Brown, Assume Form, 2023
    Coady Brown
    Assume Form, 2023
    Oil on canvas
    64 x 54 in
    162.6 x 137.2 cm
  • Coady Brown, Bouquet #14, 2023
    Coady Brown
    Bouquet #14, 2023
    Acrylic on canvas
    24 x 20 in
    61 x 50.8 cm
  • Coady Brown, Soft Sights, 2022
    Coady Brown
    Soft Sights, 2022
    Oil on canvas
    42 x 36 in
  • Coady Brown, The Magician's Assistant, 2022
    Coady Brown
    The Magician's Assistant, 2022
    Oil on canvas
    64 x 54 in
  • Coady Brown, Imagine It Was Us, 2021
    Coady Brown
    Imagine It Was Us, 2021
    Oil on canvas
    40 x 30 in
  • Coady Brown, Dark Star, 2021
    Coady Brown
    Dark Star, 2021
    Oil on canvas
    40 x 30 in
  • Coady Brown, Bully, 2021
    Coady Brown
    Bully, 2021
    Oil on canvas
    64 x 54 in
  • Coady Brown, Make Believe, 2021
    Coady Brown
    Make Believe, 2021
    Oil on canvas
    42 x 36 in
  • Coady Brown, Confidante, 2021
    Coady Brown
    Confidante, 2021
    Oil on canvas
    72 x 60 in
  • Coady Brown, Praying to the Altar of Broken Things, 2021
    Coady Brown
    Praying to the Altar of Broken Things, 2021
    Oil on canvas
    48 x 36
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