• Works in the exhibition
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Joan Brown addressed in her work the most personal and intimate moments of her life, including her romantic relationships with men. After spending the summer of 1976 traveling in Europe, Brown produced "The Journey" series, in which she documented the blossoming of a new romantic relationship abroad. The Journey #1 shows the beginning of the affair. A man and a woman stride purposefully across the canvas. Their parallel movements indicate their connection but the distance between them emphasizes their separateness and the ambiguity of a new relationship. Rather than focused on one another, each looks ahead toward an uncertain future. The painting suggests that physical travel is a metaphor for a more internal journey.