WorkArt & Culture

Terra Incognita: Ross M Brown's paintings of billboards, forgotten street art and graffiti

Terra Incognita (or ‘Unknown Territory’) was a term used by early cartographers to describe areas of land which remained undocumented. In our current age of Google maps, GPS navigation and satellite imagery, the notion of an unknown landscape has become an elusive entity.

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Painted scene depicting an underpass with supporting columns covered in graffiti and street art, with murals of nature scenes visible in the background

With his new body of work, artist Ross M Brown has set out to find a contemporary form of Terra Incognita; uncovering a landscape so proximate and everyday it tends to become unnoticed and unknown through sheer familiarity. Approaching subject matter collected in Glasgow and Edinburgh; motorway underpasses, building sites and billboards became the focal point for his painterly exploration.

Brown graduated from the MFA course at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in 2010. His work has received prizes including the NS Macfarlane and Linda Clark Nolan awards from the Royal Scottish Academy (2010, 2008) and has been shortlisted for Saatchi New Sensations and the Griffin Art Prize (2010, 2012).

Terra Incognita will take place at Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh, between 6 and 17 July 2017. Discover more at rossmbrown.co.uk / arushagallery.com.

Weathered glass billboard panels in a grid arrangement, with rust stains, peeling paint and faded colours in shades of red, yellow, grey and blue against a clear sky
Ross M Brown's abstract painting of a weathered billboard with layered textures in blues, yellows, oranges and whites, displayed in a JCDecaux advertising frame
Large billboard with layered abstract painted imagery in muted browns, reds and yellows behind glass, branded with primesight logo at base
Underpass with graffitied pillar, green ivy, and a neon sign visible in the shadowed distance beneath a wooden structure
Urban underpass with vibrant graffiti and street art on walls, overgrown with yellow-green vegetation, bare trees visible through the tunnel opening
Painting of a weathered blue billboard with peeling paint set against a green field with white support posts, by Ross M Brown
Large canvas paintings by Ross M Brown depicting urban billboards and street art scenes displayed on a gallery wall during installation
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