Join us during Upstate Art Weekend starting at 5pm on Saturday July 19 for a walk-and-talk with artist Brandon Thomas Brown, who will discuss his work in depth with Tina Campt, Professor of Humanities at Princeton University. Space is limited so make sure to register in advance! The talk will be followed by an opening reception with light refreshments, 6-8pm. All are welcome!
Brooklyn-based artist and photographer Brandon Thomas Brown (b 1988, US) presents his latest body of work in a deeply personal solo exhibition titled Ancestry, on view from July 17 through September 2, 2025 at Pinkwater Gallery (now located at Kingston Social in uptown Kingston, NY). His work weaves together original photography, collage, and symbolic elements to capture the nuances of identity.
!['Untitled [Catherine no 4]' by Brandon Thomas Brown](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/661332fceb96d50461d5834b/1749675365698-08KDFL3TW641TXJMI3WP/IMG_8489.jpeg)
!['Untitled [Catherine no. 2]' by Brandon Thomas Brown](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/661332fceb96d50461d5834b/1749675365870-UW6EKHYOC856WOO1Y5TC/IMG_8482.jpeg)
!['Untitled [Cyanotype no 1]' by Brandon Thomas Brown](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/661332fceb96d50461d5834b/1749675369483-0NR2QVCSZ0HLSL3YWJDZ/IMG_8550.jpeg)
!['Untitled [Catherine in Forest]' by Brandon Thomas Brown](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/661332fceb96d50461d5834b/1749675372818-1Z67W8DSXTUU9IA33NDG/IMG_8478.jpeg)
Known for his emotionally rich portraiture and ritual-based art practice, Brown turns the lens inward in this new series, a photographic meditation on identity, spirit, and ancestry.
At its center is the mother: a powerful, guiding force who holds space for her son’s evolution. Tasked with caring for others while protecting her own, she becomes a bridge - between past and present, between body and spirit.
Starring model-muses Catherine Aluoch Ojode, Shacar, and Dakaibo, the exhibition is an intimate narrative drawn from the artist’s own life.
This exhibition invites viewers into a layered world where memory, mysticism, and maternal love shape the path to self-discovery. Set against both constructed and natural landscapes, the photographs offer visual poems about becoming. Through the mother’s presence, the son learns to see himself not just through skin but through soul. To listen inward. To remember. To bloom.
The artist talk and reception are both free events, however we kindly ask that you pre-register if you plan to attend the artist talk, as space is limited.