MA Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art, 2024
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 themes of displacement, resilience, and the evolving nature of cultural identity across diasporic experiences. Recipient of the Sir John Akomfrah Fellowship and Sir Frank Bowling Scholarship (2024); shortlisted for the New Blood Art Emerging Art Prize 2025.
Canaan J. Brown is an artist, filmmaker, and storyteller, who reframes Black histories and futures. Inspired by Black excellence, Caribbean mythology, and British Naval history. His work's key themes include displacement, repatriation, and freedom. His artwork often incorporates magical realism, Afro-surrealism, and fantasy, to imaginatively re-examine diverse Black Atlantic experiences, and to challenge the marginalisation of people of colour.
