blair brennan
Blair Brennan was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1959. He received a B.F.A. from the University of Alberta in 1981. Brennan lives and works in Edmonton. His sculpture, installation work, photographs/photo-based works, drawings, book works and other works on paper have been exhibited nationally in numerous group and solo exhibitions. His work was featured in both the 1996 and the 1998/99 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art (exhibited in Edmonton and Calgary) and in recent thematic group exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Regina (Graphic Visions, 2008); Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver (Too Many Words, 2007); Harcourt House Gallery, Edmonton (New Alchemists: Catherine Burgess and Blair Brennan, 2007) and Cambridge Art Galleries, Cambridge, Ontario (Wordsmiths, 2006).
Brennan's work is represented in numerous private and public collections including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), the Canada Council Art Bank (Ottawa), the Glenbow Museum (Calgary), the University of Alberta (Edmonton) and the Winnipeg art Gallery.
From 1988 through to 1995, Brennan worked with Edmonton based, nationally acclaimed dancer/choreographer Brian Webb to develop a series of collaborative performance/ installations. These highly ritualistic collaborative works have been widely performed and exhibited. Brennan and Webb collaborative projects have been presented in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa.
Brennan has been involved with various art galleries and the local arts community in Edmonton for over twenty years. He has held various board, committee, volunteer and paid staff positions. He has served on a number of arts juries and has curated/facilitated exhibitions of Edmonton artists. Brennan has contributed writing to various Canadian arts and cultural publications (Artichoke, Border Crossings, C -- International Contemporary Art, Cameo, RACAR and Mix) and was recently invited to contribute a piece to Visible Language (vol. 42.1) a journal published by the Rhode Island School of Design.
November 2008
site photo credits:
Images by Blair Brennan, Simone Gareau, Mark Freeman