There is something exhilarating about viewing Brennan’s works, like drawing for the first time. Compositions that render forms, not objects, as a relation. A psychological game – three orbs, two rings, slabs of colour, contrails of light. Encountering intellect and love humming with the vibration of colours juxtaposed or, at other times, muddied and mauled, these floating forms envelop, making me suspicious of my own implicit negativity. —Lisa Radford
Angela Brennan (b. 1960, l. Naarm/Melbourne) is an artist whose practice over four decades is a thesis in colour and its relationships. She creates exuberant, primordial experiences in paint. While predominantly abstract, her practice often extends to include figuration, portraiture and text. Her paintings, footnoted with external references in titles, text and figurative elements, "build a potent self-image of the artist, reflecting her various interests, beliefs and preferences" (Michael Graf). For art of such unbridled joy, Brennan’s work houses an erudite core. It is sensate, material, intellectual.
Key exhibitions
- The Intelligence of Painting, curated by Suzanne Cotter and Manya Sellers, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2025
- Angela Brennan: Tête-à-tête & Vis-à-vis, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, 2024
- Angela Brennan: Forms of Life, Ian Potter Museum of Art, The University of Melbourne, 2017
- Painting. More Painting, curated by Max Delany and Hannah Mathews, at the Australian Centre of Contemporary Art, Melbourne, 2016
- Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2013
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Angela Brennan: Every morning I wake up on the wrong side of capitalism, curated by Max Delany and Kyla McFarlane, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2006
Key readings
- Lisa Radford, 'Quantum Colour, Angela Brennan’s Art Gallery of Ballarat Exhibition', The Saturday Paper, April 6-12, 2024
- Amelia Winata, 'Tête-à-tête & Vis-à-vis', exhibition text, Art Gallery of Ballarat, 2024
- Angela Brennan: 19 Desires and One Belief, 3-Ply, Melbourne, 2017, pp. 224
- Angela Brennan: Forms of Life, exh. cat. Ian Potter Museum of Art, The University of Melbourne, 2017
- Max Delany (ed.), Angela Brennan: every morning I wake up on the wrong side of capitalism, exh. cat., Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2006, pp.67
Collections
Allen, Allen and Hemsley
ANZ Bank
Artbank
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of South Australia
Australian Catholic University
Benalla Art Gallery
City of Melbourne
City of Yarra Collection
Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art, University of Western Australia
Council of Adult Education
Deakin University Collection
Deloitte Foundation
Goldman Sachs JBWere
KPMG
LaTrobe University
Leeuwin Estate
Monash University
Mont Blanc Art Collection CH
National Bank
National Gallery of Australia
National Portrait Gallery
National Gallery of Victoria
Powerhouse Museum
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
RACV
Susan Jones and Peter Taylor Collection
TarraWarra Museum of Art
The Arts Centre
The Vizard Foundation
Trinity Grammar School
University of Melbourne
University of Queensland Art Museum
University of Western Australia
Viktoria & Woods
Victorian Bar Portrait Collection
Western Mining Collection
World Bank US