Amanda Joy Brown - The Human Element

(New Orleans, Louisiana) FERRARA SHOWMAN GALLERY is proud to present The Human Element, the third gallery solo exhibition of California Bay Area-based painter, Amanda Joy Brown. Unveiling twenty-five new artworks employing her signature, thickened medium drip painting technique, the exhibition displays an evolution in themes alongside her characteristic, highly patterned works of crowds and botanicals. More open compositions emerge, both in more gestural, almost disappearing crowd imagery and individual portraiture, as well as still-lives of plated cut fruits, potted plants, floral arrangements, and a vernacular countertop tableau. This body of work demonstrates the advancement of Brown’s studio practice in the boundless application of her technique in density, palette, and subject matter.

The exhibition will be on view 8 April through 23 May 2026 with an opening reception on 2 May from 5-8 PM as part of the Arts District New Orleans’ First Saturday Gallery Openings.

Brown discusses the inspiration for her latest body of work . . .

This show features pieces focusing on crowds and still life subjects. The quotidian rhythm of domestic daily life is set against the collective energy that surrounds it. The still lifes depict found compositions from the day’s activity in our home: fruit from the trees out back or from a neighbor, flowers left on the table too long during a busy season, a countertop that holds evidence of all the day’s events.  Home life is a microcosm, a base from which we continue to participate in the broader communal social fabric of society. 

The crowd scenes reflect the other end of the spectrum.  We are bound to a broader identity, by cultural norms we create, the public spaces where we gather, our creative outlets, the things we mourn and celebrate. We are tied, even in our most solitary moments, to an endlessly complex social context.

Amanda Joy Brown is a visual artist based in the Bay Area. After studying Art and French at Harding University in Arkansas, Brown earned her MFA in painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design. During her studies, she completed an artist residency in Lacoste, France and later participated in a residency at the Vermont Studio Center.  She moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where she worked as an art educator alongside her studio practice as a member of Ground Floor Gallery + Studios. She now resides in California with her family, working out of her home studio. Her work can be found in exhibitions and collections internationally. 

For more information, press, or sales inquiries please contact Gallery Director Matthew Weldon Showman at 504.343.6827 or matthew@ferrarashowman.com. Please join the conversation with FSG on social media:  @FerraraShowmanGallery + @AmandaJoyBrown + @ArtsDistrictNewOrleans.