Optimism and Power: Delgreta Brown's (N)EON

                       

Delgreta Brown, Detail of Venus Returns, Acrylic on Canvas.

Delgreta Brown, a Sacramento contemporary artist, held the solo exhibition, (N)EON: The New Eon at Sacramento State this month and it was both illuminating and inspiring.  Right off the bat, the exuberant colors and inviting shapes on the canvases grabbed your attention.  Brown calls herself an Afrofuturism artist and this exhibit sure lives up to that name, exuding hope and power.

Delgreta Brown, The Simplicity of Kings & Crowns, Acrylic on Canvas.

The two paintings pictured above are staged in the same way, with three lined-up similar yet completely different figures against a landscape background.  Both paintings have the figures with closed eyes, faces tilting upward, as if trusting their surroundings completely and basking in it, with a sense of complete contentment. Brown seems to be alluding to a perfect future where African-American men and women are completely at peace with themselves, each other, and the space and people around them.  There is a power to these paintings, and to their titles.  Brown has set up these figures as kings and goddesses, placing them at the highest points of hierarchy and that says something profound about the future that Brown suggests.

Delgreta Brown, Detail of The Perfect Blackness, Acrylic on Canvas.

The theme of power in the "new eon" is definitely continued in Brown's painting, The Perfect Blackness.  Just the title matched with this powerful looking man against a backdrop of bright colors is slightly jolting.  There is nothing about this painting that could be read as anything but strong.  The hues of brown paint shape his skin and his expression is of something like fortitude and determination.  The paint in the background forms a kind of celestial scenery and this man seems to transform into a god among men.

"I just want to promote positivity," Brown says and that is indeed the strongest message in this collection of paintings.  She may not be critiquing the world, but she is showing it a kind of hopefulness that is a rarity. Brown celebrates the power, beauty, and optimism in people of color and it is a brilliant thing to witness.

Delgreta Brown, AM Love, Acrylic on Canvas.

Delgreta Brown, Amure, Acrylic on Canvas.

                          Delgreta Brown, The Path of The Giraffe Thru The Tiger's Eye, Acrylic on Masonite.

                           
                                                                  Delgreta Brown, Supernatural Love, Acrylic on Canvas.                                         

Delgreta Brown, Detail of Ba Neter, Acrylic on Canvas.

Delgreta Brown can be found at about.me/delgreta.brown