Mary-Louise Browne

Overview

There's an interesting paradox at the heart of Mary-Louise Browne's art. On the one hand, she’s a leading practitioner of text-based conceptual minimalism, on the other a lover of objects, “the thinginess of things”.

Cerebral at first glance, her work is also infused with warmth, wit and even tactility. Works in stone, leather or satin call to be touched, perhaps experienced with eyes closed. There’s often a playful exchange between media and meaning - Pale Skin, part of a large series of leather works speaking to the body, is painted on fine flesh hued leather. A delight in the clash between fine art and commercial art is frequently present – neons send strange messages advertising nothing. A series of brass plaques, self-importantly quoting from art historical texts on representation, converse irreverantly with old fashioned signage for doctors’ or lawyers room. Luscious cream onyx seduces with ethereal and indeterminate messages: This sits in between the unsaid and the aside.

Given the prevalence of text, the work is primarily about the process of reading, seeing and comprehending the visual. The interplay of vision and cognition is foregrounded. Our attention is called to the role of language in articulating and registering what we see and experience. Using text in lieu of imagery, Browne speaks to the visual while refusing the prevalence of images and their authority over contemporary imagination. The work thus broadly investigates the nature of art itself and the role of the viewer in interpreting an artwork. These big questions are handled with a playful lightness and irony with an overt delight in double-entendre. In a global context her work may be seen alongside artists like Lawrence Weiner, Joseph Kosuth and Martin Creed

Bio

Mary-Louise Browne graduated from the University of Auckland with a Master of Fine Arts, First Class Honours in 1982 majoring in sculpture. She is an established artist with an impressive history of exhibitions and commissions for permanent public art works such as Byword, a series of granite seats on Lorne St in Auckland, Font, a pool at St Patrick’s Square, in Auckland’s CBD, Body to Soul, a monumental staircase in Wellington’s Botanical Gardens and a basalt path engraved with text in Wellington’s Civic Square. Her most recent large public installation Seeing is believing (2019) at Objectspace in Auckland with its dynamic reflection captured the essence of her project and the complexity of our comprehension of what we see.