Siren (New York)

Artist Neil Dallas Brown (Elgin, Scotland, 1938 - 2003)

Date1971

Mediumoil on hardboard

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

Dimensions183 x 160cm
Frame Size: 184.5 x 161.5cm

AcquisitionPresented in 2006 by the Neil Dallas Brown Trust.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG014406

About MeNeil Dallas Brown studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee and later taught there and at Glasgow School of Art, where Ken Currie was a student.

War imagery features largely in Brown's work. He was one of the first artists to deal with terrorism in contemporary society and during the 1970s, Ulster became his predominant theme.

Siren just predates the Ulster paintings and was inspired by a trip to New York in 1970, where the wail of police sirens and car horns created a threatening and uneasy atmosphere. The sleek helmet of a riot guard represents the aggressiveness of enforced order but also hints at the undercurrent of unrest in urban society.

Brown's paintings tend to be monochromatic - newspaper photographs were often the source. The brutal images are ambiguous and anonymous. The hooded or helmeted figures are not specific to one war zone or to one era and have a terrifying contemporary relevance.

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Elgin-born Brown produced this after a visit to New York, where the wail of police sirens and traffic created a threatening atmosphere, emphasised by the shiny helmet of the guard