"I like being caught between the known and unknown. There is an excitement around not being able to categorize the paintings. I'm happy to see them set the viewer ‘off course a bit' "
Brennan is part of a new generation of painters whose work is at the forefront of an ongoing and unfolding conversation around the possibilities and potential of ‘abstraction.’ Brennan invites the viewer to see what a painting "can" be. Following no rules on how to make a painting, no rules of engagement, and approaching abstraction by any means necessary, Brennan's paintings are loaded with content for the viewer to sort through. He explores and investigates every idea that crosses his path, stumbling into chance and wonder and looking for unexpected outcomes. The paintings are expressionistic but also have a great deal of anxiety and slowness to them. This comes from the fact that Brennan uses materials that can seem unimportant and pedestrian at first. Allowing this to be part of a fine art conversation turns everything on its head. Ultimately, the work asks more questions than it answers. That's a good place for them to exist and a good place for the viewer to start.
Patrick Brennan was born in Syracuse, New York and now resides in New York City. He studied at Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute and received a BFA in Painting and Video Art from Alfred University in 1998. Recent exhibitions include: V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Halsey Mckay Gallery, MOMA / PS1, Galerie Lelong, Nicole Klagsbrun, Monya Rowe Gallery, Zieher Smith, Edward Thorpe Gallery, Artist Space and Clifton Benevento in New York and Romer Young Gallery in San Francisco as well as Heiner Contemporary, Wash. D.C. Brennan has been awarded residencies at Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta GA, Burren College of Art (Ireland), and The Experimental Television Center Owego, NY. Brennan was a visiting Professor of Painting at Alfred University 2014-15 and is a founding member of Essex Flowers Gallery in New York, NY.
