James Brown’s (1951-2020) career kicked off in the 1980s when he started exhibiting his semi-figurative paintings. The surface of the canvases and their texture was of great importance in his work. He found great inspiration in tribal art as well as in literature and music. In the ’80s and 90’s he exhibited at the most reputable galleries such as Tony Shafrazi in New York, Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich and the legendary Leo Castelli in New York.

The suite of forty ”Passion drawings” derives from the biblical Passion of Christ. They were all created with coffee on fine paper during Easter Sunday 1988 shortly after Brown had attended a procession on the Italian island of Procida. These ten specific drawings were exhibited at Anders Tornberg Gallery in November – December 1991. The limited-edition artist book was published in conjunction with this exhibition in Lund.