On Painting: Fiona Rae Interviewed by Glenn Brown : In Conversation

Join us for On Painting, an exclusive interview where artist Glenn Brown converses with British painter Fiona Rae, held at The Brown Collection.

Known for paintings full of restless energy, humour and complexity, Rae takes centre stage in this in-depth conversation. Her work moves between bold, defined shapes and riotous abstraction, drawing on the history of modern painting alongside pop culture, film, television and digital technology. Balancing the improvised with the carefully constructed, her canvases test and expand the conventions of abstract painting. 

A rare chance to hear two painters associated with the Young British Artists in conversation. Both emerged in London in the late 1980s and early 1990s, at a time when painting's relevance was being widely questioned, and each found a very different way to answer that challenge. Rae turned to energetic, improvised abstraction, drawing on pop culture, film and television, while Brown developed meticulous reworkings of images from art history. The discussion will explore how those early positions shaped their practices, the place of painting in a rapidly changing visual culture, and their approaches to colour, composition and the materiality of paint. 

The Speakers

Fiona Rae (b. 1963, Hong Kong) studied at Croydon College of Art and Goldsmiths, graduating in 1987. In 1988 she took part in Freeze, the group exhibition curated by Damien Hirst in London's Docklands, and in 1997 she was included in Sensation at the Royal Academy of Arts. She was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1991 and for the Eliette von Karajan Prize in 1993. Rae was elected a Royal Academician in 2002 and served as a Tate Artist Trustee from 2005 to 2009. In 2011 she became the first female Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy Schools, a post she held until 2015, and in the same year Goldsmiths awarded her an Honorary Fellowship. She has held solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Basel, the ICA, London, and Carré d'Art, Nîmes, and lives and works in London.

Glenn Brown (b. 1966) is a British contemporary artist, recognised for his intricate paintings, sculptures and drawings, which appropriate and transform imagery drawn from art history, science fiction and popular culture. He is the founder of The Brown Collection, where he has hosted numerous talks with artists working across a range of disciplines.

Further Information

This event is fully accessible, with lift access available to Gallery 3, where the event will take place. 

For any queries, please email: laurie@glenn-brown.co.uk