Patrick Brennan
Patrick Brennan is an painter who operates between the bravado of Abstract Expressionism, juxtapositions of the Combine, and formalism of contemporary abstractions. Layering paint alongside everyday objects such as popsicle sticks, discarded fabrics, scraps from his studio floor, and detritus from the workplace, the artist’s works float between beauty and an awkward chaos. The pedestrian materials and variety of handling taken at first glance give way to reveal the earnest and playful sophistication driving the artist’s choices and approaches. “I’m always cropping out part of the last mark made. Eventually I want them reveal the history slowly and with a little hesitance,” he explains.
Brennan applies marks and materials onto paper in ways that emote physical and psychological responses. His collaged Moon Drawings from 2011 possess a glow, seemingly sprayed to the surface. Pock marked and cratered like the surface of their lunar inspiration, the artist cuts, paints, scratches and glues pieces together in a playful and piecemeal fashion. Their irregular planes and organic edges hover in the frame like satellites suspended in the vacuum of space.
The artist’s works have been exhibited at institutions such as MOMA / PS1, Boston’s Institute for Contemporary Art, High Museum of Art in …
Patrick Brennan is an painter who operates between the bravado of Abstract Expressionism, juxtapositions of the Combine, and formalism of contemporary abstractions. Layering paint alongside everyday objects such as popsicle sticks, discarded fabrics, scraps from his studio floor, and detritus from the workplace, the artist’s works float between beauty and an awkward chaos. The pedestrian materials and variety of handling taken at first glance give way to reveal the earnest and playful sophistication driving the artist’s choices and approaches. “I’m always cropping out part of the last mark made. Eventually I want them reveal the history slowly and with a little hesitance,” he explains.
Brennan applies marks and materials onto paper in ways that emote physical and psychological responses. His collaged Moon Drawings from 2011 possess a glow, seemingly sprayed to the surface. Pock marked and cratered like the surface of their lunar inspiration, the artist cuts, paints, scratches and glues pieces together in a playful and piecemeal fashion. Their irregular planes and organic edges hover in the frame like satellites suspended in the vacuum of space.
The artist’s works have been exhibited at institutions such as MOMA / PS1, Boston’s Institute for Contemporary Art, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Artist Space in New York, and Printed Matter in New York.
Courtesy of Halsey McKay Gallery
