Angela Brennan’s How an Apple Falls and How the Universe Expands has been acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales with support from the Contemporary Collection Benefactors. The painting was first exhibited in Brennan’s solo exhibition, On Being an Atom, presented by The Commercial at Sydney Contemporary this year and is currently on display in the 20th-century galleries on the ground level of AGNSW’s Naala Nura building.

Erik Jensen, editor-in-chief and chief executive of Schwartz Media, has curated an exhibition that reflects on the friendship and artistic relationship between artists Angela Brennan and Elizabeth Newman, “explored through the restaging of two early works by the artists that once hung in the kitchen of their St Kilda sharehouse". Marine Parade: Angela Brennan and Elizabeth Newman opens at Schmick Contemporary, Sydney, Thursday 10.04.25, 6-9pm. Angela Brennan painted a portrait of Erik Jensen that was shortlisted for the 2024 Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

It is a great pleasure to announce that The Commercial is representing Angela Brennan and welcome her warmly to the gallery. 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 oil paint. While predominantly abstract, 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. The Commercial will be presenting an exhibition of Brennan’s paintings from her recent solo show at the Art Gallery of Ballarat in October this year.