Bio

Kyle Brown Jr, pictured in April 2025

BIOGRAPHY

Kyle Brown Jr is an American contemporary artist, a native of the Deep South, born in Decatur, Georgia in 1970. He lives and works now in Charleston, South Carolina. Self-taught, he was introduced to visual arts at a young age, and has established a sustained rhythm of production and exploration across various mediums, including pastel drawing, printmaking, and painting. 

Kyle is also a humanitarian aid worker, beginning in Africa with the Rwandan genocide in 1994, and most recently during the war in Ukraine in 2022-2023. His art is spurred on by these life experiences. He says: "I find art to be a meaningful response to the complex problems of our modern world".

In the studio, Kyle creates art from subjects of the natural world. He seeks minimalism in his artwork, taking guidance from Mark Rothko with the quote: “We favor the simple expression of complex thought… There is no such thing as good painting about nothing”.

 

AWARDS

2026                      

Best in Show, Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair, Peoria, IL

Best in Drawing, Boston Mills Artfest, Peninsula, OH

Award of Achievement, Works on Paper, Wells Street Art Festival, Chicago, IL

Second Place, Works on Paper, Beaux Arts Festival, Coral Gables, FL

2025                      

Outstanding Achievement, Port Clinton Art Festival, Highland Park, IL

Juror’s Award, Des Moines Art Festival, Des Moines, IA

Best in Show, Gold Coast Art Fair, Chicago, IL

First Place for Mixed Media, Beaux Arts Fine Art Festival, Coral Gables, FL

2024                      

Award of Distinction, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA