Concrete Matters →

The CASS & Bank Space Gallery

Jessie Brennan A Fall of Ordinariness and Light (The Scheme), 2014

3 - 19 March 2016

First year students of the MA Curating the Contemporary from the London Metropolitan University and Whitechapel Gallery joint programme will hold their first exhibition, Concrete Matters, at the Bank Space Gallery from 4 March through 19 March.

Employing the concept of ‘psychogeography,’ Concrete Matters delves into the bond existing between the human mind and its surrounding environment. The exhibition explores the mutually shaping processes of urban space and human identity through photography, mixed media, sculpture, performance, and sitespecific works. Connected by a shared interest in the reflexivity of society and urban structures, the group exhibition consists of ten national and international artists: Victoria Adam, Jessie Brennan, Anna Fafaliou, Şakir Gökçebağ, Lucy Joyce, Georgia Metaxas, Nina Pappa, Emma Papworth, Nikolas Ventourakis and Ben Woodeson.

Complementing the exhibition is a public programme of talks and performances bringing together varying perspectives on issues raised in the show. This will include performances by Lee Fraser and Lolo Hjtyu Tuyuyu, as well as an interactive installation by George Kostoglou and talk by Simon Banos. Curators’ tours will also take place throughout the course of the two weeks.

THE JOHN RUSKIN PRIZE 2015 | RECORDING BRITAIN NOW: SOCIETY

26 February – 17 April 2016, The New Art Gallery Walsall

A Fall of Ordinariness and Light, 2014

Organised by The Big Draw in collaboration with the Guild of St George and The Pilgrim Trust. 

Jessie Brennan's A Fall of Ordinariness and Light (2014) has won Second Prize in the John Ruskin Prize 2015. REGENERATION! (published 2015) was also shortlisted for the prize. The 30 prize finalists were selected from over 700 artists (1,653 artworks were considered). The exhibition is held at The New Art Gallery Walsall until 17 April 2016. It is accompanied by a programme and catalogue linking to the V&A’s historic ‘Recording Britain’ collection. 

See the full press release here.

SELECTION PANEL: Adam Dant (Artist), Gill Saunders (Senior Curator of Prints,V&A Museum) , Stephen Snoddy (Director, The New Art Gallery Walsall), Sue Grayson Ford (Big Draw President), Clive Wilmer (Master, The Guild of St.George)

We Are Moving - Symposium →

“We Are Moving” is an exhibition of photographs, recordings, archive material and artistic responses to changes taking place on Cheltenham’s Lower High Street as it undergoes redevelopment, an observation of the evolution of space and place.

The symposium that accompanies the exhibition will discuss who and what the 21st century High Street is for, in the context of the transformation of Cheltenham’s urban landscape, exploring the idealism of past times and the possibility of future public environments that are both for and not-for commerce.

Symposium speakers: Jessie Brennan (Regeneration! Conversations, Drawings, Archives and Photographs from Robin Hood Gardens), Douglas Murphy (The Architecture of Failure), and Julian Dobson (How to Save Our Town Centres: A Radical Agenda for the Future of High Streets)

Symposium at The Wilson Gallery in Cheltenham: Friday 12 February 2016, 1:30pm.

More info here

DALLA ROSA AT THE LONDON ART FAIR 2016 →

20 - 24 January 2016

dalla Rosa Gallery is presenting work by Jessie Brennan and Kasper Pincis. 

ART PROJECTS | STAND P6

Business Design Centre, London N1 0QH.

See here for opening times and tickets.

The Bartlett Visiting Research Fellowship, UCL →

Faculty of the Built Environment, University College London

Inside a Green Backyard (2015-), Jessie Brennan's Metal Peterborough residency project

11 January - 1 April 2016

Jessie Brennan is a recipient of The Bartlett Visiting Research Fellowship 2015-16. 

As part of its annual Visiting Research Fellows programme, The Bartlett is offering five Visiting Research Fellowships to scholars and practitioners from any cognate discipline to be resident at UCL for a 12-week period from January - March 2016.

Jessie Brennan will explore ways in which a practice-based research project in collaboration with a grassroots (newly charitable) organisation, The Green Backyard (GBY) – an urban ‘community growing project’ in Peterborough – can contribute to debates around regeneration and community land rights. It explores inter-cultural interaction between the predominantly Portuguese, Polish, Italian, Asian and white British communities in Peterborough by seeking to develop and expand existing community networks at GBY. Specifically, the project invites participation from socially and culturally diverse local communities as a form of tacit resistance to redevelopment. It attempts to challenge the narrative told by Peterborough City Council of the need for planned redevelopment of the site and intends to offer alternative evidence – in the form of a visual and audio archive – for the social use and value of the land. 

For further information about the project, as it develops, please see Metal Peterborough. #InsideGBY

FOUR WORDS →

Curated by Alan Dunn, produced with Liverpool Provocations and Metal Liverpool

Systemic Invisible Unattributable Normal by Jessie Brennan for Alan Dunn's curated project, FOUR WORDS (2016)

18 - 24 January 2016

Jessie Brennan has contributed to Alan Dunn’s new project FOUR WORDS which will take place in Liverpool during the 2016 January Sales. Appearing on a 7 metre media wall, a collection of ten-second, animated text pieces will act as a counterpoint to the sales season and the invisible pressures of that time of year, with ruminations on value, money and exchange. The contributors include Gerhard Richter, Douglas Coupland, Shaista Aziz, Pavel Büchler, Fiona Banner, Levitt & Dubner (‘Freakonomics’), David Shrigley, retired seafarer Captain Pengelly, Hala Al-Alaiwat and ex-Liverpool FC striker David Fairclough, amongst others. The project has been developed by Alan Dunn in collaboration with Liverpool Provocations and Metal Liverpool.

The Media Wall, opposite Lime Street station, Liverpool.

More information (and view the video interviews, timelapses and gif animations) here.

Ghost[ed.] →

Kettering Museum

6 January - 3 February 2016

Group exhibition of Ghost[ed.], a suite of eight limited-edition stone lithographs, published in 2015. Contributing artists include: Sue Baker Kenton; Gino Ballantyne; Jessie Brennan; Tim Brown; Hen Coleman; Nicole Polonsky; Edit Toaso; Caroline Whitehead.

Alfred East Art Gallery
Sheep Street
Kettering
Northamptonshire
NN16 0AN

Open Tuesday to Saturday
Closed Sunday & Monday

Contemporary British Drawing →

XAFA - Xi'an Academy of Fine Art, China

1 - 6 December 2015

An exhibition of Contemporary British Drawing at XAFA - Xi'an Academy of Fine Art

100 South Hanguan Road, Xi'an, CHINA

icam-UKI Symposium 2015 →

Friday 13 November

This month, the V&A and RIBA will be hosting a symposium for the UK and Ireland group of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums (ICAM). The event will discuss new ways of engaging with architecture, architectural enterprises for museums and how to think creatively about opening museums’ architectural collections and archives to the public.

Artist, Jessie Brennan, will present her recent project REGENERATION! In her talk she will describe the politics that led to the rise and fall of Robin Hood Gardens - from socialist-inspired post-war public housing to its eventual privation under neoliberalism - but also the contested place the buildings occupy between iconic architecture and domestic homes. What’s highlighted are the dramatically different perceptions of the estate by academic/architectural institutions and the people who actually live there. How then, might the role of the architectural museum address the gap between perceptions of architecture and its actual lived experience, and engage more broadly in debates around the politics of regeneration? 

The symposium is convened by Dr. Olivia Horsfall-Turner, and speakers include: Dr. Barbara Penner (Senior Lecturer in Architectural History, The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL); Richard Coutts (Founding Director, Baca Architects); Jessie Brennan (Artist, Freelance Educator and Lecturer); Liza Fior (Founding Partner of muf architecture/art); Jo Norman (Senior Curator, Lead Curator, Scottish Design Galleries, V&A Museum of Design Dundee); Dr. Kent Rawlinson (Head of Collections and Public Programmes, RIBA); Laura Southall (Head of Learning, RIBA); Jonathan Tuckey (Director, Jonathan Tuckey Design).

The symposium is aimed at all members of ICAM-UKI, international members of ICAM and other museum or heritage professionals working with architectural collections, offering the opportunity to connect with colleagues across a range of architecturally engaged institutions.

Delegates will attend a drinks reception and a private view of the recently launched Philip Webb (1831-1915) exhibition. Drawing on the unparalleled collection of drawings and archives of the V&A and RIBA, the display brings together Webb’s diverse projects and his roles as architect and designer.

RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London & V&A, Cromwell Road, London
09:30-19:00 (Museum open until 22:00)

REGENERATION! Book Now Available →

Conversations, Drawings, Archives & Photographs from Robin Hood Gardens

Available from bookshops at RIBA | TATE MODERN | WHITECHAPEL GALLERY | ICA | THE FOUNDLING MUSEUM | NATIONAL THEATRE | AA BOOKSHOP | CAMDEN ARTS CENTRE | SOUTH LONDON GALLERY

Buy a copy of the book here.

REGENERATION! is a project devised and produced by artist Jessie Brennan with individuals who currently live – or have lived – and work on the Robin Hood Gardens estate in Poplar, east London, before its planned demolition. 

Special thanks to the people who made this project possible by their hard work, enthusiasm and contributions: Wayne Alison, caretaker, Robin Hood Gardens; James Hamilton, former tenant, Mackrow Walk; Owen Hatherley, author; Sadia Aziza Islam, temporary tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Abdul Kalam, former tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Richard Martin, writer and researcher; Nicholas Ruddock, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens. 

With thanks to: Chomok Ali, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Rizia Ali, Neighbourhood Engagement Officer, Tower Hamlets Homes; Halima Amin, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Fatima Aziza, temporary tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Hamida Begum, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Halima Begum, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Samuel Boakye-Yiadom, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Mike Bonsu, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Godfrey McCurdy, Housing Management Officer (Robin Hood Gardens), Tower Hamlets Homes; Yusuf Mohamed, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; ‘Monette and Nevaeh’, temporary tenants, Robin Hood Gardens; Pat Murray, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Darren Pauling, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Aks Rahman, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Robin Hood Gardens Tenants and Residents Association; Mohammed Yeahia, tenant, Robin Hood Gardens; Jimmy York, caretaker, Robin Hood Gardens; and all the people unnamed here who engaged in conversations on the doorsteps, along the walkways and on the green.

Acknowledgements: Architectural Design (AD); The British Library; RIBA Library Photographs Collection; Smithson Family Archive; Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives.

The book launch for REGENERATION! was hosted at RIBA Bookshop in London on 6 October 2015. 

dalla Rosa Gallery at MULTIPLIED 2015 →

MULTIPLIED ART FAIR
Stand 33, Christie's South Kensington, 16 - 18 October 2015

Presenting editions by Jessie Brennan, Benjamin Bridges, Caroline Corbasson, Ben Cove, Catrin Morgan, Kasper Pincis, David Webb

Christie’s South Kensington
85 Old Brompton Road
London SW7 3LD

Oct 16, 9am – 7pm
Oct 17, 11am – 7pm
Oct 18, 11am – 6pm

Admission to Multiplied is free.

Regeneration! Book Launch →

RIBA Bookshop

Tuesday 6 October 2015, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Talk 7 pm

RIBA Bookshop is pleased to host the book launch for REGENERATION! Conversations, Drawings, Archives & Photographs from Robin Hood Gardens. The event also includes an In Conversation between writer Richard Martin and artist Jessie Brennan. 

Regeneration! is the outcome of a project devised and produced by Jessie Brennan with individuals who currently live – or have lived – and work on the Robin Hood Gardens estate in Poplar, east London, before its planned demolition.

Much has been said and written about Robin Hood Gardens, and the latest news – that a review of the decision not to list the buildings was declined – will no doubt ignite more discussion yet. Join us for the book launch at RIBA Bookshop to find out about the project, purchase your copy of the book and discuss the estate before its imminent demolition.

Location: RIBA Bookshop, 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD

Tickets are free but RSVP, please: eva.sandoval@ribabookshops.com

For further information please see Jessie Brennan's article 'Robin Hood Gardens and the Politics of Regeneration' published by Apollo.

Robin Hood Gardens and the politics of regeneration →

Apollo

'Robin Hood Gardens and the politics of regeneration' is an article by Jessie Brennan, published by Apollo (11 August 2015). It precedes her book REGENERATION! Conversations, Drawings, Archives & Photographs from Robin Hood Gardens (2015).

Ghost[ed.] →

London launch

PV: Thursday 1 October 2015, 6 - 9pm

Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 October 2015, 12 - 6pm

Ghost[ed.] is a suite of eight limited-edition stone lithographs by eight artists, published in 2015. 

Ghost[ed.] London launch is part of Westland Place Open Studios 2015

Westland Place Studios
3-11 Westland Place
London
N1 7LP

www.westlandplacestudios.com

neo:artprize2015 →

neo:artprize2015

Jessie Brennan Conversation Pieces (no. 123), 2014

27 August – 1 November 2015

Private View: Saturday 29 August, 2 pm

neo:artprize2015 is selected by: Ian Davenport, Artist; Amira Gad, Exhibitions Curator, The Serpentine Galleries, London; Margot Heller, Director, South London Gallery (SLG); Helen Pheby, Senior Curator, Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP).

neo:gallery27, Bolton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom

Plymouth Contemporary Open 2015 →

Peninsula Arts Gallery

A Brutal Story, 2014 and Conversation Pieces (no.27), 2014

Saturday 11 July – Saturday 29 August 2015

Plymouth Contemporary Open 2015 launch and award announcements: Friday 10 July 2015, 17:30 – 20:00pm

Selected by Helen Legg, Director, Spike Island, Bristol; Sam Thorne, Artistic Director, Tate St Ives; Judith Robinson, Partnerships Officer, Plymouth City Council; Dr Sarah Chapman, Director, Peninsula Arts; Chris Cook, Associate Professor (Reader) in Painting, School of Art and Media, Plymouth University and Professor Alan Schechner, Head of School of Art and Media, Plymouth University.

Bram Thomas Arnold | ATOI (Amy Thomas and Oliver Irvine) | Dan Beard | Harriet Bowman | Jennifer Boyd and Alice Williams | Jessie Brennan | Bristol Diving School | Chloe Brooks | Michael Cox | Tim Foxon | Naomi Frears | Laura Gower | Jane Hayes Greenwood | Will Kendrick | Samuel Levack | Jennifer Lewandowski | Cathy Lomax | Mateusz Marek | Pilar Mata Dupont | David Morgan-Davies | Ailbhe Ni Bhriain | Steven Paige | Sarah Poots | Michael Porter | Ryan Ruaidhri | Paul Vivian

Peninsula Arts Gallery 
Plymouth University
1A Roland
Levinsky Building
Drake Circus
Plymouth
Devon PL4 8 AA

Time and Space Residency: Open Studio →

Metal Peterborough

Jessie Brennan's Metal residency project is in collaboration with the Green Backyard, Peterborough

4 July 2015, 11am - 4pm

Find out about the projects being developed by current residency artists:

Marc Atkinson | Jessie Brennan | Richard Cramp | Matthew Booker

Metal at Chauffeur's Cottage
St Peter's Road
Peterborough PE1 1YX

The Case of Robin Hood Gardens →

UCL Urban Laboratory, Seminar

Start: Jun 22, 2015 02:00 PM 
End: Jun 22, 2015 06:00 PM

Seminar programme includes the following speakers: 

Catherine Croft - Director, The Twentieth Century Society; David Crowley - Professor and Head of Critical Writing in Art & Design, Royal College of Art; Alan Powers - Leader of Historical Studies, London School of Architecture; Sarah Wigglesworth - Professor of Architecture, University of Sheffield; Jessie Brennan - Independent artist; Susanne Tutsch - Director, Erect Architecture; Judit Ferencz - PhD student, Bartlett School of Architecture; Mark Lemanski - Tutor, University of East London; Murray Fraser (chair) - Professor of Architecture and Global Culture, Bartlett School of Architecture; Jane Rendell (chair) - Director of Architectural Research, Bartlett School of Architecture; Adrian Forty (discussant) - Professor of Architectural History, Bartlett School of Architecture.

Book free tickets here.

UCL, 1-19 Torrington Place, B17 Lecture Theatre, London WC1E 7HB

Creekside Open 2015 →

APT

A Fall of Ordinariness and Light (The Justification), 2014

11 June - 5 July 2015
Preview: Saturday 13 June, prize giving at 3pm

Creekside Open 2015, selected by Richard Deacon

Dominic Beattie | Flora Bowden | Jessie Brennan | Daryl Brown | Malina Busch | John Butterworth | Joe Carcary | Alex Chalmers | Louisa Chambers | Nicholas Cobb | Fergus Cooper | Tim Coppard | Will Cruickshank | Tori Day | Benjamin Doherty | Terry Dynes | Archie Franks | Tricia Gillman | Robert H Hitzeman | Sam Hodge | Geoff Hodgson | Jane Hoodless | Elizabeth Jardine | Toby Jury Morgan | Aileen Kelly | Danielle Knight | Leo Koivistoinen | Mel Lloyd | Paula MacArthur | Enzo Marra | Scott Massey | Patrick Mifsud | Matt Morris | Ben Jack Nash | Martynas Noreika | Suzanne O'Haire | Amy Owen | Clare Palmier | Mark Parkinson | Richard Proctor | Sam Pullen | Julia Russell | Kate Russo | Angus Sanders-Dunnachie | Eleanor Sparrow | Christine Stark | Andrew Taylor | David Theobald | Pandora Vaughan | Max Wade | John Wallbank | Nicola Wallis | Grant Watson | Matthew Webber | Nicole Weisz | Teresa Wells | Sara Willett | Emyr Williams | Stephen Wright | Jonathan Wright

Art in Perpetuity Trust
Harold Wharf
6 Creekside
Deptford
London SE8 4SA

Exhibition open Thursday to Sunday from 12noon to 5pm

Ghost[ed.] →

The Ghost[ed.] Project

Ghost[ed.] VIII, Jessie Brennan and Sue Baker Kenton, 2015

13 June - 6 September 2015

Ghost[ed.] is a suite of eight stone lithographs by eight contemporary visual artists. The suite will have its launch exhibition at Dean Clough, Halifax. 

Devised and coordinated by Nicole Polonsky and Sue Baker Kenton: 

Sue Baker Kenton | Gino Ballantyne | Jessie Brennan | Tim Brown | Hen Coleman | Nicole Polonsky | Edit Toaso | Caroline Whitehead

Dean Clough 
Halifax 
West Yorkshire HX3 5AX