Nigel Brown

Who is Nigel Brown?

Nigel Roderick Brown, ONZM is a New Zealand painter living in coastal Southland whose work is mainly about the history of New Zealand and its natives. As a young boy he spent much of his life growing up in a packing shed in Tauranga. This may have influenced his strong symbolism of iconic New Zealand items.

Brown graduated from the University of Auckland Elam School of Fine Arts in 1971 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. While attending Elam Art School, he was inspired by expressionism, taught by Garth Tapper and influenced by painter Colin McCahon whom he studied under for three years. Mâori artist Fred Graham also inspired Brown with tales of Mâori legends.

Brown has been a full-time artist since 1972. He has exhibited extensively in public and private galleries throughout New Zealand and has had several touring exhibitions. Brown's paintings use a lot of brown and black so that they look natural. Words are often incorporated into the border of Browns works, reinforcing the idea that paintings are a form of social dialogue. Brown describes himself as ‘an expressive realist or symbolic expressionist’.