Alex Brown
Graduation Year: 2004
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Type of Creative: Painter, Drawer, and Designer
What They Do: Alex is a self-taught painter. He also works at Small Talk Studio, a clothing brand based in New York, where he creates drawings for seasonal collections and custom base garments.
Their Journey: After graduating from Wellington in 2004, Alex studied philosophy at Boston University, initially planning to attend law school. However, he realized his true passion was art by his sophomore year. Apart from a few drawing classes, Alex is largely self-taught, using his philosophy degree to think more critically about his work. He lived in San Francisco before moving to New York, where he focused on improving his craft and participated in group shows. While living in Brooklyn during the pandemic, he continued a series of paintings featuring men in suits and explored new ideas that emerged during that uncertain time.
In 2023, Alex began working at Small Talk Studio, creating drawings for their seasonal collections and custom garments for individual customers and stores like Ssense and Dover St. Market Ginza. He continues his own drawing and painting practice, with some of his suited guy paintings displayed in a menswear store in Soho called & son.
The Wellington Impact: Alex fondly remembers Kit Porterfield's art class in middle school, describing it as a chaotic and fun environment that fostered creativity. "The room was big and bright and looked out onto a courtyard. There were big marked-up tables pushed together, everything was a mess, the paint-splattered boombox always playing something good, color everywhere, people talking, everything was so chaotic and so fun!" he recalls. Kit Porterfield's encouragement and introduction to surrealism, including paintings by Marc Chagall, left a lasting impression on him.
In high school, Alex learned a lot about drawing from Ms. Young, and Nancy Mulick's AP class allowed him to explore his creativity. "Nancy Mulick gave us a ton of freedom in her AP class and introduced us to art critiques and how to talk about our work," he explains. These experiences at Wellington helped shape Alex, providing a strong foundation for his artistic journey.