Hidden Pleasure British Artistís Abstract Paintings Driven by Sexual Imagery by Carolyn Chapman Cecily Brown has received practically as much media exposure for her image as she has for her wild abstract paintings. Sheís young, sheís British, sheís sexy, and sheís been featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine and Interview. More importantly, however, her paintings are some of the most sought after in the modern art world. The British art collector Charles Saatchi has one, President of New Yorkís Museum of Modern Art Agnes Gund has one, Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz has one, the Guggenheim has one, and the Hirshhorn recently bought one. The London-born Brown was educated in England where she began painting and moved to New York in the mid-1990s. She has had solo exhibitions at the Victoria Miro Gallery in London (where many hot young British artists get their start), the Gagosian Gallery in New York, Contemporary Fine Arts College in Berlin, and Deitch Projects in New York. "She sure is something else," said the security guard on duty at "DirectionsóCecily Brown," her first solo museum show, which is currently on disp lay at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Speaking of her in awe as one might talk about a movie star, he spoke animatedly of Brownís work as he guided visitors through her seven-painting display. "Sheís wild," he said, shaking his head. At first glance, Brownís paintings are an energetic jumble of colorful kaleidoscope-like abstractions. But underneath, they all contain images of the human figure engaged in some form of pleasure. Her paintings are hedonistic, with sex and orgies as the driving force behind them. The painting that stands out among those on display in "Directions" is an untitled oil painting in which Brown was obviously influenced by the imagery of Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch. In Brownís complex painting, dozens of contorted, rabbit-like animals (which take the place of human forms) whirl around a hole filled with white light and set against a red background in an eerie, dream-like setting interspersed with sexual imagery. "By blending allusions to high-art masterpieces with references to popular culture, Cecily Brown subverts artistic traditions to create new and pictorial forms," said curator Judith Zilczer in her essay on Brown. Brownís other paintings are just as complex, once you look underneath the bright colors and splashy abstractions. "DirectionsóCecily Brown" runs through March 2 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue at 7th Street, SW. For more information, please call (202) 357-2700 or visit http://hirshhorn.si.edu. Carolyn Chapman is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.