Born in California, United States in 1951, James Brown has spent his time between New York, Paris and Mexico, where he mainly resides today. He was most well known in the 1980s for his rough painterly semi-figurative paintings, most of these works depicted the life experiences of African people in North and South America, Africa and the Caribbean. Brown has turned to more abstract paintings in recent years. He gained international recognition in an early stage and his works are collected by museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His international exhibitions include: 1983 "Champions", United States; 1989 "The five Sorrowful Mysteries", United States; 1997 "The Story of the Stone", Italy; 2002 "Print Retrospective", France; 2004 "James Brown: Residencia Oaxaca ", Mexico; 2006 "Work on Paper 1981-2005", United States; 2007 "James Brown", Germany; 2008 "Doom", United Kingdom; 2009 "James Brown in Italy Three Decades", Italy; 2009 "The Planets Connected", Netherlands; 2009 " Into the Emptiness", Italy; 2011 "James Brown: The Realm of Chaos and Light", France and 2011 "James Brown: Firmament", Italy.