Canaan J. Brown is an artist and designer who uses magical realism, fantasy, and storytelling to reframe the histories and futures of the Black experience. Especially concerned with themes of Black excellence, Naval histories, and repatriation, he uses filmmaking, creative writing, and an increasingly interdisciplinary creative practice. He has performed in A Mirror is not a mirror (2024), and All fish are dead fish (2023).
Brown holds a first-class BA (Hons) in Art and Design from the Birmingham Institute of Creative Arts, where he was awarded the Inspirational Student of the Year Award in 2022 and, during 2023, the Outstanding School Representative Award, the Louisa Anne Ryland Travel Bursary, and the Gertrude Emily Griffin 1st Prize Award. Externally, during his undergraduate studies, he was a finalist for the Black Heritage Undergraduate of the Year Award.
In 2024, he completed an MA in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art, funded by the prestigious Sir Frank Bowling Scholarship; here, he was also awarded the role of programme representative.
His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally at venues including Tate Modern, Southbank Centre, and Recent Activity Gallery, and has been featured by platforms including BBC West Midlands, IAMBIRMINGHAM, and ITV News. Brown was also shortlisted for the 9th edition of the International Awards for Art Criticism.
Most recently, Brown won the Sir John Akomfrah Research Fellowship, at the Royal College of Art.