The Demon Menagerie, 2019-2020

Oil on linen
© Cecily Brown; courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York.
Photo by Ian Reeves

While Cecily Brown has always considered herself to be a figurative painter, she is particularly interested in the moment at which a figure breaks down into something less recognizable and this state of flux characterizes he work. Alongside the body—the core of Brown’s practice—nature is another recurring theme, as seen in The Demon Menagerie. The work references the motif known as the “concert of birds”—popularized by Frans Snyders (1579–1657)—in which numerous species are depicted perched on top of one or more trees. In contrast to Snyders’s art, Brown’s jagged brushstrokes, sickly green hues, and skull-like form at the center of Menagerie create an atmosphere of violent unease.