Brown Calligraphy
Denis Brown Discusses his Art
This hardcover book, a visual feast of inspiration, offers a rare opportunity to read how a leader in the international field of calligraphic arts approaches his work, how he forms and develops ideas, and how he created his many unique styles and idioms. The artist candidly discusses every phase of his calligraphy from teenage years to date.
Hardcover, 264 pages with 234 colour illustrations, 89 of which are full-page or double-page plates including life-size and larger than life-size reproductions. Dimensions: 12" × 8.5" × 1" (303 × 217 × 28 mm) ISBN 978-0-9957657-0-2
In this book, renowned calligrapher Denis Brown reveals the journey of his work from schoolboy accomplishments through rebellious outbreaks to artistic masterpieces. Brown’s calligraphy transcends the worlds of lettering and design to incorporate broader realms of expression and artistic communication. Brown discusses in detail the values of his craft: regarding letterform and composition, structure and fluency, and discipline and freedom.
He also candidly examines creativity with content and conceptual approaches in responding to texts. The artist presents and discusses a broad range of his calligraphy from formal and traditional pieces to expressive, conceptual, and even transcendent works of art. This book has been designed by its author, a leader in the international field of Western calligraphy, to be one of his works in its own right.
This book makes clear the most important aspects of calligraphy as art in this moment. One will understand the difference between real calligraphy and what I call typographical calligraphy. Even if if you are not a calligrapher you will far more enjoy calligraphy after reading this book. Because of serious reflections and excellent works and illustrations, it is the most important book on calligraphy of the last decades. It s a must for calligraphers and all people interested in Calligraphy as Art.
Denis Brown
Denis Brown is one of the most creative and innovative artists in the international field of calligraphy. Renowned for masterful command of the broad-edged pen, his work is not limited to style or technique; he produces art that engages with concerns broader than those outlined by craft practice. Working variously on paper, in glass, and on vellum skins, he has developed distinctive approaches to each material. In making both traditional and highly explorative work, Brown skips casually back and forth over perceived boundaries of what defines calligraphy, thus broadening the possibilities of the art.
Based in Dublin, Ireland, Brown travels internationally to teach, lecture, and exhibit. For the past twenty years he has been on the faculty of most of the annual International Calligraphy Conferences held in the United States and Canada. He is an Honoured Fellow of the Calligraphy and Lettering Arts Society and a former Fellow of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators, the two British calligraphy organisations of prestige.
His work is featured in many collections including those of the European Parliament; the British Library; the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; the National Museum of Ireland; the Akademie der Künste, Berlin; San Francisco Public Library; the Newberry Library, Chicago; and the Russian Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy, Moscow. Brown’s work has restored production of calligraphy in his native Ireland to a calibre and international fame reminiscent of what the nation’s scriptoria achieved in its golden age. Inspired by that legacy, he carries calligraphy forward in a fully contemporary manner.
