Overview

Tim Brennan is a northern artist based in the UK. Brennan's practice is not limited to one mode of production and encompasses: performance, sculpture, printed matter; creative writing (prose, poetry, theoretical); photography; drawing; painting, web-art; sound; publication (including artist books) and curating. He began exhibiting internationally in 1988. Highlights include: The 54th Venice Biennale and The British Museum (manoeuvre/guide-walk performance and publication); Centre Regional de la Photographie/FNAC Dunkirk, France (solo Photography); Northern art Prize/Leeds Art Gallery, Spacex (Exeter) and The Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art (solo exhibition of painting and photography); my vinyl recording 'Vinylarium' was played in its entirety on BBC's 'The John Peel Show' in 2002. In 2023 my research into the intersection of poetry, drawing and web-design with Ilektra Maipa culminated in the exhibition of our web browser, at the Athens Digital Arts Festival, Athens, and Primarolia Festival, Agio. In 1998 Brennan curated the Sculpture Collection of Leeds City art Gallery and The Henry Moore Institute. A core aspect of Brennan's practice has been his development of the guided walk form, which he began in 1993 and which he entitles 'the manoeuvre'. His adoption of walking has been seminal to the emergence of the field of 'art-walking' .

Recognition

Brennan's research has been critically appraised in gallery exhibitions (and accompanying catalogues), contemporary art journals including Performance Magazine and Art Monthly.  In addition to his exhibition, practice-based research history recognition is reflected in the collections and archives that hold his work. These include: special collections that house artworks, artist-books, and documentation: Printed Matter NY (US); Artists' Book Collection Dundee (abcD); Live Art Development Agency Archive (LADA, UK); The University for the Creative Arts Archive (UK); MMU Special Collections (UK); National Archives (UK); The Mass Observation Archive (University of Sussex, UK); Stuart Hall Library (IniVA, UK); 1:1 Projects Rome (ITLY); Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art (UK);  Scottish Poetry Library (UK); University of Aberdeen Art Collection (UK); Centre Regionale de la Photographie (FR); Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (UK); Curating Degree Zero Archive Zurich (CH).

Educationalist

Since 1992 Brennan's research has informed all of his teaching which he has developed in dilogue with his research practice. He has taught performance, drama, music and theatre students; art history and fine art students engaged in all modes of fine art production; photography and curating students. Brennan has been instrumental in the development of new areas of provision, including Visual Performance and Performance Writing at Dartington College of Arts (1990s), and Curating at Goldsmiths College and the University of Sunderland (1990s/2000s). His PhD supervision has included candidates engaged in sculpture, music, creative writing, glass & ceramics; photography; and art and design theory. He is particularly interested in supporting those practices that are located at the interscetion of two or more identifiable fields. Brennan's teaching is made accessible to all levels of higher education (from Foundation in Art & Design, through BA and MA levels to PhD research).