Jonathan Brennan

Jonathan Brennan is an artist living and working in Belfast since 2012. Originally from Dublin, he spent most of the 2000s in Brussels, Belgium where he studied painting at the École des Arts d’Anderlecht. He previously studied History of Art & Architecture (and Spanish) at Dublin University, Trinity College Dublin and has a MSc in Multimedia Systems. His work is about place: architectural and urban places as well as what is traditionally referred to as landscape, and how both interact. He is drawn to the less obvious, the neglected and the abandoned – alleyways, culverted rivers, wastelands, abandoned spaces and objects. Brennan’s practice is multi-disciplinary, employing various visual media like printmaking, painting, video and photography, as well as audio, oral history, archive and original texts.

Brennan’s work is not overtly political, but rather seeks to prompt the viewer into looking with new eyes at the quotidian and to consider the wider forces that seek to manipulate how we think and act.

Since moving to Belfast, Jonathan has exhibited in the Ulster Museum, Golden Thread Gallery, PS2, Framewerk, ArtisAnn, Belfast Exposed, Engage Art Studios, Vault Artist Studios, the Crescent Arts Centre. His work is in public and private collections worldwide. He exhibits regularly in solo and group shows. Jonathan is a member of the Belfast Print Workshop and Vault Artist Studios.

Jonathan used his residency at DAS to gets to grips with a number of 3D creation suites and gaming engines and to explore 360 video and VR experiences. He will integrate what he has learned into his practice, using his newly-acquired skills to model environments and display and explore them in new ways not possible physically.

Residency period: Dec ‘24 - Mar ‘25