Glenn Brown (survey): Des Moines Art Center, Iowa

This monumental painting is based upon a much smaller composition designed in 1981 by renowned British Science Fiction illustrator Chris Foss (b.1946) for the cover of a paperback novel. While there are numerous similarities to Foss' original Floating Cities here, Brown emphasizes the significant details he adds when scaling up a small painting to wall-size proportions – particularly coffin and crucifix-shaped structures that adorn this fantastic skyline amidst the stars. It lives indirectly as a tribute to Ian Curtis, the lead singer of the British post-punk band Joy Division (who committed suicide in 1980), as well as to classic Sci-Fi illustrators that Brown felt never received their proper due. This version is the second that Brown painted.

– Steven Matijcio, Curator, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, USA