A Brown Millennial (2020)

Statement by Hamiltonian Gallery

In her first solo show, Akea Brionne Brown, builds A Brown Millennial with powerful photographic portraits infused with aesthetics of Americana, vast swaths of color rooted in history and culture, and interactive texts that challenge what is personal and political. 

In her own words, this work is a reflection of Brown’s world and what it means to exist as a young, black, American woman in a time where everything feels uncertain. In response to both personal events and political systems, A Brown Millennial exists to invite viewers into the contemplations and worries that consume the artist. Breaking away from the flatness of the photographic plane, Brown creates an immersive environment using pop culture phenomena like Buzzfeed Privilege Quizzes and paper takeaways and invites the viewer to engage with what may be uncomfortable. 

Images from the past are a window into the present. Brown uses found textiles and personal history to examine contemporary politics in her own eyes: “I’ll open up an honest dialogue about the topics that have been consuming my consciousness, specifically the contemporary state of African Americans and blacks throughout the continental United States.” The installation is built with urgent simultaneousness that can only be described as the reality of any millennial grappling with these intersectional issues. Representation and beauty within an American context are taken on powerfully through her portraits transforming textiles and the body; the overwhelming effects of mass incarceration on the black community are explored vulnerably; the diminishing awareness of ancestral practices that were erased through slavery and the great migration are alluded to through cultural signifiers from her homes of New Orleans and New Mexico. The reality of privilege is unpacked elegantly, and real questions are asked of the viewer.