Cuhoba: Welcome to the Spirit Realm

Canaan J. Brown

Canaan J. Brown's practice engages deeply with the cultural and historical legacies of the Black Atlantic, using magical realism and Afro-surrealism to transform personal and collective narratives into layered, otherworldly works. By blurring the lines between reality and myth, his work explores the themes of displacement, resilience, and the evolving nature of cultural identity across diasporic experiences.

Brown's choice of media plays a critical role in this exploration. Working across digital prints, painting, and installation, he combines traditional and contemporary practices, reflecting the fluidity and hybridity central to the Black Atlantic. His digital prints, in particular, allow him to layer and manipulate imagery, creating compositions that feel fragmented yet interconnected - mirroring the shifting, multifaceted histories he examines. Meanwhile, his painted works ground his practice in materiality, with the richness of colour and form evoking memory and mythology. 

This interplay between media invites comparisons to artists like Peter Doig, whose poetic and ambiguous spaces similarly explore identity and memory through mythological imagery. Brown's vibrant and immersive works continue this dialogue, offering an imaginative rethinking of history, cultural heritage, and the enduring impact of the Black Atlantic.