Jessie Brennan is a London-based artist whose practice explores the inter-relations between people and places, informed by their social and political contexts and a direct engagement with the individuals who occupy them. Her practice is research-led and takes the form of drawing, photography, installation, performance, film, writing and publications.
Jessie graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2007. She has exhibited extensively in the UK and Europe, and her work is held in public and private collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Recent selected projects include: UNBUILD: a site of possibility, Drawing Room, London (2023); Les Territoires de l’eau, Musée du Quai Branly, France (2021); Contraction, curated by Alan Dunn for East Street Arts (2020); Making Space, commissioned by UP Projects for Royal Docks, Newham (2019); Vision and Sounds Interrupted, commissioned by Soundcamp (2019); Your Words, commissioned by South London Gallery (2018); Re: development – Inside The Green Backyard, Carroll/Fletcher Onscreen, London (solo, 2017); If This Were to Be Lost, dalla Rosa Gallery, London (solo, 2016); RESIDENT, City Gallery & Museum, Peterborough (2016); Progress, The Foundling Museum, London (2014). Her authored books include Re: development (2016) and Regeneration! (2015).
Jessie’s practice is focused on sites, situations and situatedness, specifically the role of artists in fostering solidarities with working-class communities and their right to the city. This has led her to work with people in public housing estates and community gardens, among other places.