Isabel Brown, accomplished Los Altos painter, has scheduled a 20-year retrospective art exhibition, “Journey of the Spirit: A Retrospective,” 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Saturday, at Gallery House, 320 California Ave., Palo Alto.
Brown was born in Piura, Peru, to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. Frida Kahlo, the famous Mexican painter with whom Brown shares a similar ethnic background, has inspired Brown since her childhood.
Brown has triumphed over serious physical challenges during her lifetime. She was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease in her early 20s. In 1989, her kidneys failed, forcing her to undergo dialysis 15 hours a week.
During this time, Brown’s paintings changed perspective, growing darker to reflect her inner feelings. In 1991, she received a transplant, but her body rejected the kidney over the next year.
Her paintings grew even more introspective as she fought to survive.
Despite failing health (Brown underwent five hospitalizations in a short period), she visited her Peruvian hometown in August 1997 for the first time in 40 years. When she returned, she was diagnosed with liver cancer.
Another yearlong struggle for life followed, with more technically masterful and deeply thematic works painted in the interim. Brown has been cancer-free for seven years and her later works reflect that change.
