April 24, 2017

Meet Dina Brown of Gallery Brown in Mid City West

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dina Brown.

Dina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started selling art in 1991. At that time, my mother had been in the art business a few years, and I started working with her. In 2004, I opened the gallery; the 13 years I spent with her prepared me well. We still work very closely, and do deals all the time together. We share some great stories of clients and deals we’ve experienced over the years.

In general, I’m very grateful the gallery is celebrating 13 years this May. It sounds cliché, but I love what I do.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For the most part, it has been a pretty smooth road. Deals can get complicated, like anything, but I’m very solutions oriented. It’s always about how to move forward. The biggest struggle was the recession, of course, but most everyone suffered through that time.

Gallery Brown – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I specialize in 20th century post-war and contemporary art. The major artists I deal in are Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat, Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein, etc. I buy and I sell limited editions and originals by these artists, as well as a host of others.

I also represent a few, select artists like Chris Otcasek and John Tierney, who do photography and painting respectively. I have shows several times a year. Last October was Warhol the 80’s, and this June is a show of John Tierney’s paintings of Los Angeles, which I’m very excited about, as I am a native Angeleno.

I’d hope what sets me apart from others is my integrity, accessibility, and attention to detail. It’s extremely important to me that a client acquires a piece that’s the right match for them, understands the relationship of that piece to the art market in a larger context, and acquires it at fair price.

I’m most proud of the gallery being a relationship based experience. The art world is sometimes not best known for being friendly- and I’m a populist at heart, so I want people to feel at home and included when they visit.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I’m not sure there has been one moment over the last 25 years I’m most proud of, although I have to admit completing a major deal always has a feeling of victory associated with it! More so, though, proudest moments are either seeing a show finally come to fruition, like the Warhol 80’s show, that had some rare, unique material in it, or feedback from a client that they appreciate the level of care and attention I put forward. A happy client always makes me proud.

Contact Info: