C. Brian DeVaughn is a self-taught artist who learned about art from his grandmother, Mary “Mimi” Chambers. According to Brian, his grandmother was “very artistic both in the visual and musical arts.” He remembers from an early age watching her paint landscapes and still life in oil. However, he did not fully appreciate that artistic environment until later on in his teenage years.  Brian began classes at NEMCC in 2005 majoring in photography. It was during his time at Northeast that he painted the Birth of Enlightenment series. He felt more obligated to push himself toward becoming a better artist. At this time, he began moving toward expressionism. Brian states,“My paintings became more spontaneous. I would paint the first thing that came to mind. There are no accidents in art, only possibilities.” 

Brian had his first show in May of 2007 at Galerie d’Art in downtown Baldywn , MS . The show was entitled "Experience Enlight N ment."  The opening drew in a crowd of art lovers and supporters from the Northeast Mississippi area.  The Baldwyn News carried a feature story about the show and Brian’s artistic endeavors.  In this past year Brian has been showing his art around the Northeast Mississippi and Southern Tennessee regions. At the beginning of the year Brian had a solo exhibit at NEMCC.  In April, he was accepted to display his work at the Gumtree Art Festival in Tupelo, MS . Following the art festival Brian was able to show in a group competition at the Savannah, TN Artist Gallery. Most recently one of Brian’s collage pieces, “The Music of Art, The Art of Music,” won an online voting contest along with 20 or so other artists to be featured in an exhibition at the Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis, TN. In December, he was invited to display a few pieces at the Tupelo Gumtree Museum of Art's "Sip and Shop."

“I can only describe my style as an integration of pop, neo-expressionism, post-modern and Paleolithic art,” Brian says. “I have been truly inspired by the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and other artists from the New York art scene of the 1980’s.” Brian also holds great admiration for artists such as Van Gogh, Paul Klee, Piet Mondrian, Joan Miro, de Kooning, etc.  “To see a Van Gogh painting for the first time is like seeing the world for the first time. It is simply amazing.”  Brian’s latest solo was entitled, “Okay, Okay.” He came up with the title with some help from his daughter. Brian said, “One night I asked her. Elliott, what should daddy’s new exhibit be called?  And her reply was okay, okay. So being the abstract person I am I had to title the show after my daughter’s response.”