Art Brenner was born in New York City in 1924. Beginning as a painter, his work evolved in a direction that unavoidably led to sculpture. To devote himself to this new development, in 1964 he left New York for Paris where he lived and worked for over forty years. He died in Adelaide(Australia) in 2013.
Art Brenner worked with metal - primarily steel. A major aspect of his work was his concern for the role of sculpture in the environment, and he published several articles on this subject in professional publications including the AIA Journal. He created 22 major commissions for large-scale works related to buildings and open spaces in the USA, France, Britain and Spain (see commissions).
Art Brenner also developed a prolific body of sculptures of a more moderate scale.(see works). The starting point and basic idea of most of his sculptures is a figurative element - often borrowed from mythology or history. In the tradition of the Bauhaus, he then searched for the subtle balance between the geometry of lines and movement. His compositions are formed of various planes, associating massy material to grids of perforated sheet that introduce light and a kinetic effect.
Art Brenner’s work is present in various public collections and public spaces in Europe and the United States, particularly in France: Fonds National d’Art Contemporain (FNAC), Paris and Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Meudon. His work is also present in numerous private collections in Europe, Australia and the United States.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Born in New York in 1924, lived and worked in Paris from 1964 to 2012.Died in 2013 in Adelaide, Australia.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2003 Adelaide (Australia) :BMGart Gallery2001 Paris: Galerie Agbe&Gbalicam
1996 Menton: Museum of Menton (retrospective)
1994 Paris: Galerie ASKEO (sur l'Atelier)
1990 Heidelberg: Deutsch-Amerikanische Institut
1980 Paris: Salle d'Exposition / UBP
1978 Rennes: Institut Franco-Américain
1978 Brest: Musée de Brest
1976 Adelaide, Australia: Osborne Art Gallery
1974 Amsterdam: Galerie Siau
1971 Amsterdam: Galerie Siau
1967 Paris: Galerie Lucien Durand
GROUP EXPOSITIONS
2008 South Australia : Palmer Sculpture Biennial2008 Issy-les-Moulineaux : Johnson & Johnson
2007 Andrésy : Sculptures-en-l’Ile
2006 Vernon : « Cet Eté, l’Art Vous Regarde»
2005 Andrésy : Sculptures-en-l’Ile
2003 Angers: Trésors du XX° siècle dans les collections angevines
2003 Paris: Sculpteurs en Nature
2003 Paris: Sculpteurs au Présent
2002 Paris: Sculpteurs au Présent
2001 Menton: Autoportraits d’Artistes
2000 Paris: Sculpteurs au Présent
1998 Paris: Sculpteurs au Présent
1998 Angers: Estampes Contemporaines
1997 Paris: American Artists in France(Mona Bismark Foundation)
1997 Paris: Sculpteurs au Présent
1996 Paris: Sculpteurs au Présent
1995 Bruxelles: Monumental Meise
1995 Rambouillet: Art Actuel
1994 Fursac: Art et Nature en Limousin
1989 Lezoux: IV° Salon d'Art Contemporain
1989 Avranches: Musée d'Avranches: "American Artists in France in 1989"
1989 Paris: "Blue, White, Red: Colors of Liberty"
1988 Paris: La Fête Bleu--Hommage à Iris Clert
1988 Anchorage, Alaska: Museum of History and Art: "Art in Public Works"
1987 Montreuil: Rencontre
1986 Paris: La Villette: Sculptures sur Métal
1986 Paris: Château de la Muette
1986 Sophia Antipolis: Bijoux Contemporaines
1986 Lyon: Architecture et Font
1985 Paris: Conciergerie: Une Légèreté Monumentale
1984 Rennes: Du Sport à la Cimaise (Musée du Sport)
1983 Châteaudun: Aspects de la Sculpture Contemporaine
1982 Paris: Galerie Esplanade de la Défense: Collection Internationale
1982 Londres: The Halpern Partnership
1982 Evry: Exposition Art et Métal
1982 Croissy-sur-Seine: Salon de Sculpture Contemporaine
1982 Ste-Geneviève-des-Bois: Sculptures Monumentales
1981 La Rochelle: Sculpture sur Métal
1980 La Vaudreuille Ville Nouvelle: Exposition Internationale de Sculpture
1980 Parly II: Art '80
1979 Paris: CNAC Georges Pompidou: L'Art sur l'Autoroute
1978 Paris: Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques: L'Art et la Ville--Art dans la Vie
1977 Paris: Galerie de l'Université: “Trois Sculpteurs Américains”
1977 Fontenay-sous-Bois: Sculptures et Environnements
1976 Paris:Galerie de l'Université (Paris-Sculpt)
1976 Paris: Groupe Dialogue
1976 Calais: Un Siècle de Dessins de Sculpteurs
1976 Allones: Festival International d'Art Contemporain
1975 Barcelone: V° Biennale Internationale du Sport dans les Beaux-Arts
1974 Paris: Galerie de l'Université (Paris-Sculpt)
1974 Paris: Musée Galliera: Cabinets Fantastiques
1974 Saint-Etienne et Montpellier: Bijoux de Sculpteurs
1972 Paris: Sculpture dans l'Architecture
1972 Le Mesnil-Saint-Denis: Maison de la Culture: ExpositioInternationale
1972 Afrique du Nord: Alger, Rabat, Tunis: “Trois Graveurs, Un Sculpteur”
1970 Montargis: Festival Arts Plastiques
1970 Cachan: Institut Universitaire de Technologie
1970 Verderonne: Centre Artistique
1969 Paris: Galerie Jacques Casanova
1969 Paris: Centre Culturel Américain: “Three Americans”
1969 Ste-Geneviève-des-Bois: Salon Hurépoi
1969 Avignon: Festival d'Avignon
1969 Verderonne: Centre Artistique 1968 Verderonne (Oise): Centre Artistique
SALONS
Salon de Mai, Paris : 2005, 2008Réalités Nouvelles, Paris: 1968, 1972-74, 1984-85, 1995-2004
Salon des Grands et Jeunes d'Aujourd'hui, Paris: 1980-88, 1990, 1993
Salon Art Sacré/Expression Spirituelle, Paris: 1975, 1980-85
Salon de la Jeune Sculpture, Paris: 1966-69, 1971, 1975-79
COLLECTIONS
France: Fonds national d'Art contemporain: 1976, 1982, 1985Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Meudon
Musée du Sport
Musée de Vernon
Spain: Art sur l’Autoroute
U.S.: Rose Museum, Waltham, Mass.
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn.
Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, Alaska
...and in private collections in France, Germany, Spain, the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands
FILMS
"Art Brenner, Sculpteur" by Ed Marcus 1972 (14 minutes)"An American Sculptor in Paris" CNN 1995 (3 minutes)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arte en la Autopista, Fondacion Abertis, Espagne 2007Les Sculpteurs du Métal, Dominique Dalemont, Somogy, Paris 2006
La Sculpture en Acier, Philippe Clérin,Dessain et Tolra, Paris 1993
Ville de Paris, N° 52, March 1984
Profil, March-April 1980
Outdoor Sculpture-Object and Environment, Margaret A. Robinette,
Whitney Library of Design, New York 1976
ARTICLES
"Concerning Sculpture and Architecture", Leonardo, Vol. 4 (1971)"The Humanizing Rôle of Sculpture", AIA Journal (Sept. 1973)
"The Urban Environment: The Rôle of Sculpture in Architecture", Art and Australia
(July/Sept; 1976)
"The Structuralism of Claude Lévi-Strauss and the Visual Arts",
Leonardo, Vol. 10 (1977)