Stanley Brouwn
Stanley Brouwn (Paramaribo, 1935 – Amsterdam, 2017)
‘At the request of the artist there are no photos or bio- bibliographical data.’
Since 1972 this sentence (or a variation thereof) was to be found in the catalogues of group exhibitions Stanley Brouwn participated in. From that year onwards the artist refused to supply any biographical data, or give interviews. He was even extremely hesitant in reproducing his work (‘Stanley Brouwn refers to his works in the exhibition’).
Brouwn’s first museum exhibition had been in Schiedam, two years previously. At that time in Holland his work was known only to a small circle of followers as opposed to Germany, where he had already built up a certain reputation. There he had taken part in Festivals where he performed Fluxus-related actions, his work had been published in a large number of books and magazines, and his This Way Brouwns had been carried out in various cities (Brouwn asked a random passerby on the street to draw a certain route for him on a piece of paper, after which the sketch was stamped so that it read This Way Brouwn).
Brouwn had already been presenting similar immaterial works of art since 1960; in that year he sent out invitations to visit all the shoe stores in Amsterdam during a certain time.
Brouwn can also be regarded as one of the first representatives of conceptual art (or idea art), a movement that from the end-Sixties would quickly gain significance. Moreover he was one of its most consequent exponents.
‘At the request of the artist there are no photos or bio- bibliographical data.’
Since 1972 this sentence (or a variation thereof) was to be found in the catalogues of group exhibitions Stanley Brouwn participated in. From that year onwards the artist refused to supply any biographical data, or give interviews. He was even extremely hesitant in reproducing his work (‘Stanley Brouwn refers to his works in the exhibition’).
Brouwn’s first museum exhibition had been in Schiedam, two years previously. At that time in Holland his work was known only to a small circle of followers as opposed to Germany, where he had already built up a certain reputation. There he had taken part in Festivals where he performed Fluxus-related actions, his work had been published in a large number of books and magazines, and his This Way Brouwns had been carried out in various cities (Brouwn asked a random passerby on the street to draw a certain route for him on a piece of paper, after which the sketch was stamped so that it read This Way Brouwn).
Brouwn had already been presenting similar immaterial works of art since 1960; in that year he sent out invitations to visit all the shoe stores in Amsterdam during a certain time.
Brouwn can also be regarded as one of the first representatives of conceptual art (or idea art), a movement that from the end-Sixties would quickly gain significance. Moreover he was one of its most consequent exponents.