Shop Available Works by Brian David Dennis

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Artist Biography

Brian was born in 1959. He was raised in a home with movable walls designed by his father, an aspiring artist. The openness and fluidity of the modular arrangement captured Brian’s imagination. His mother, a kindergarden teacher encouraged Brian’s free thinking and constant building.

As a student Brian considered following his passion for stage design, but sought the more personal expression the fine arts offered. He studied drawing and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy.

He quickly settled into collage and assemblage. In the mid 80’s he began to explore installation using the exhibition location as an essential part of the piece. A life long resident of Pennsylvania, Brian has lived and worked in Philadelphia since 1984 with his life partner Keith Breitfeller. He began exhibiting with the cooperative gallery, Vox Populi and remained an active member for 15 years. He has held solo exhibits in Austria, the Philadelphia ArtAlliance, the Sande Webster Gallery as well as a prestigious Fleisher Challenge. He has been granted an Independence Foundation Fellowship and other awards. In 2016 he was commissioned by Longwood Gardens.

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Artist Statement

As an artist, I crave the sweet moments while working when I slip beneath my own conscious control. While making art, I seek to lose awareness of the outside world and of myself. I am free when working from within, untethered to expectation and thought, even if what comes to the surface is the worst experience of my life.

-Brian David Dennis

Brian David Dennis is a multimedia visual artist. His body of work ranges from large installations to small collages. From immersive to intimate, he extrudes the extraordinary from the common. He's constructed soaring towers of coffee stirrers and presented lost worlds discovered in minute street trash. His imagination manifests wondrous realms from our everyday world.

Much as he rummages for art materials, he plunders the art cannon for influences. The project and the process dictate his sources. His tormented figures refer to Francis Bacon. The installations are direct descendants of Josef Svoboda's stage designs. Minimalist edicts temper his spontaneous chaos. Central to his aesthetic concerns are always balance, tension, and surface. “The piece is the subject, not the content”.

There is a strong autobiographic thread running through his lifelong body of work. The narrative details in earlier projects were shrouded in diffusing layers. With a mature understanding, the confusion and conflict of his past have given way to peace. The always raw and emotive nature of his work is now infused with a powerful honesty.

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Awards and Competitions

2001
Fellowship, Grant Awarded for New Installation, Independence Foundation, Philadelphia, PA

1995
Punch Point .n, Selected Site Specific Installation, Artfronts Partnership, Philadelphia, PA

Solo Show Awarded From Juried Exhibition, Shrouded Schemes, The Baum School Of Art, Allentown, PA

1994
Lou-See-All/Spiked Night, Stage Design, Beaux Arts Ball, The Foundation For Architecture, Philadelphia, PA
Winner 1994 Elf Atochem/Kynar 500 Design Competition: “All The World Is A Stage”

1994
Annual Award Show, Tobeleah Wechsler Annual Award, Cheltenham Center For The Arts, Cheltenham, PA

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Bibliography

2016
Don Brewer, "Being", DonArTNews.com, June 17, 2016

2014
Brewer, Don “Keith and Brian”, DonArTNeWs.com, April 28, 2014

2013
Booker, Bobbi “Sande Webster tribute …”, The Sunday Tribune, December 8, 2013

2011
Friedman, Sally “A river of talent”, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 10, 2011,

2009
Ludovich, Joe’l and Katherine Sender, “The Brian Dennis Project”, Video Documentary, 2009
Donohoe, Victoria “Show of seven”, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 14, 2009

2006
Sozanski, Edward J. “Some dialogues, some duds”, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 4, 2006
Booker, Bobbi “Artists, protégés, debut works”, Philadelphia Tribune, July 14, 2006

2005
Sifuentes, Hervey “Pintores de Filadelfia...”, Zócalo De Ciudad, Acuña, November 5, 2005
Fallon, Roberta “A-List”, Philadelphia Weekly, March 9, 2005
Rosof, Libby “Shadows, falsehood and deceit”, Artblog, March 22, 2005

2004
Fallon, Roberta “Local Muses”, Philadelphia Weekly, November 3, 2004
Rosof, Libby “Five at Art Alliance”, Artblog, October 12, 2004

2002
Ludovich, Joe’l and Katherine Sender, “Cradle”, Short Film, 2002
Hill, Lori “First Friday Focus”, Philadelphia City Paper, June 6, 2002

2001
Sozanski, Edward J. “The magic, not the meaning matters”, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 14, 2001

1995
Rubin, Daniel “An Artistic Notion...”, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 22, 1995
Brown, Gerard “To Strike or Maneuver, Conceal or Reveal?”, Philadelphia Weekly, March 15, 1995

1993
Rice, Robin “Architecturama”, Philadelphia City Paper, January 22, 1993

1992
Rice, Robin “Glass House”, Philadelphia City Paper, June 26, 1992
D!versions, Best Bet, Philadelphia Gay News, January 10, 1992

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Gallery Representation

Adrian J. Falcon Gallery, Del Rio, TX
Galerie Göttlicher, Krems, Austria

Exhibitions

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Solo and Two Artist

2024
Counterpoise, a collaboration Keith R. Breitfeller and Brian David Dennis, Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, Allentown, PA

‍memos from the ephemeral, Werring Contemporary, Phoenixville, PA

COUNTERPOISE: Brian David Dennis and Keith Breitfeller, ARTSPACE1241, Philadelphia, PA

2020
Arc, InLiquid at Park Towne, Philadelphia, PA

2018
Day Shade, Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA

2017
Art of the State, State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
con·tex·ture, Two Artist Shows with Keith R. Breitfeller Studio, Wayne, PA
Curated by Susanna W. Gold
Call It, Solo Installation, Vestibule at Old City Publishing, Philadelphia, PA

2016
Tumble Well, Solo Show, Paper Moon Gallery, Buffalo, NY
‍Echo, (Nightscapes), Commission, Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA
being in the woods, Three Artist Show, Artspace 1241, Philadelphia, PA
Call It, Solo Show, Abington Art Center, Abington, PA

2015
Oberfläche, Two Artist Shows with Keith R. Breitfeller, Galerie Göttlicher, Krems, Austria

2014
Abeyance, Two Artist Shows with Keith R. Breitfeller, 110 Church Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2012
Spliced Notions, Galerie Göttlicher, Krems, Austria

2011
3 Dimensions, Two Artist Show with Laura Demme, Perkins Center for the Arts, Collingswood, NJ

2010
Current Work, Two Artist Show with Keith R. Breitfeller, Firehouse, Del Rio, TX
Continuum, Two Artist Shows with Keith R. Breitfeller, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2009
Current Work, Two Artist Shows with Keith R. Breitfeller, Adrian J. Falcon Gallery, Del Rio, TX

2007
Pause, Two Artist Shows with Keith R. Breitfeller, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA ‍

2005
Layers & Undercurrents, Two Artist Shows with Keith R. Breitfeller, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Current Work, Two Artist Shows with Keith R. Breitfeller, Adrian J. Falcon Gallery, Del Rio TX
Hold, Perkins Center for the Arts, Collingswood, NJ
Bridgehead (2), Vox Populi Cooperative Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2004
Pigment & Paste, Two Artist Shows with Keith R. Breitfeller, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
‍Leaning Keep, Site Specific Installation, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA

2002
Roll Call, Vox Populi Cooperative Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
(sunday’s) Bridgehead, Ashley Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2001
Surfaces & Subsurfaces, Two Artist Shows with Keith R. Breitfeller, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2000
Radio Cradle, Vox Populi Cooperative Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1999
Firewall, Vox Populi Cooperative Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1995
Skylock, Vox Populi Cooperative Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1994
Sheltering Considerations, Vox Populi Cooperative Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1992
Figure Head and Other Talk, Vox Populi Cooperative Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024
arise and away, The Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art at Congregation Rodeph Shalom, Philadelphia, PA‍

The Naked Show, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2014
Listening In: Philly Artists Speak, Grizzly Grizzly, Abington Art Center, Abington, PA
Invitational

2013
Against The Odds, A tribute to Sande Webster Gallery, Lawrence Gallery, Rosemont, PA
Natural Selection, Invitational 110 Church Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Found Light, JUNK, Snowball Silent Auction, Curated by Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2012
Pop-Up, Bainbridge Club, Philadelphia, PA
4 X 10: Ten American Artists, Sande Webster Presents, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

2010
Battle Of The Bowls, Invitational, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA

2009
Battle Of The Bowls, Invitational, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
Yes We Did!, Invitational, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2008
USArtists at the Armory, Philadelphia, PA

2007
Pink, Invitational, Perkins Center For The Arts, Collingswood, NJ
Art & The City, Invitational, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Out Loud & Proud, Invitational, William Way Community Center, Philadelphia, PA
USArtists at the Armory, Philadelphia, PA

2006
Dialogues, Invitational, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
‍USArtists at the Armory, Philadelphia, PA

2005
The Digital Process, Invitational, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
USArtists at the Armory, Philadelphia, PA

2004
Don’t Forget, Invitational, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
‍USArtists at the Armory, Philadelphia, PA

2001
Roustabout’s Hold, Fleisher Art Memorial Challenge Competition, Philadelphia, PA

2000
Black, White And Grey, Invitational, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1998
Optimist’s Society Presents: New Nehilism Now, Institute Of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA
Out On The Farm, Chester Springs Studios, Chester Springs, PA

1996
On The Edge, Painted Bride Arts Center, Philaelphia, PA
Curated by A.M. Weaver
Paper Prayers, MANNA Fundraiser, Philadelphia, PA

1995
Paper Prayers, MANNA Fundraiser, Philadelphia, PA

1994
Sixth Juried Painting Exhibition, The Baum School of Art, Allentown, PA
Juried by Peter A Tatistcheff, Tatistcheff & Co. Gallery
A Group Of Grids, Invitational, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Shouts And Whispers, Venue, Philadelphia, PA
Curatored by Barbara DuringAllentown Art Museum Biannual, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA
Juried by Charlotta Kotic
Gala Visual Arts: Annual Gay And Lesbian Group Shows, Philadelphia, PA
Paper Prayers, MANNA Fundraiser, Philadelphia, PA

1993
Steel, Paper, Rocks (Six Artist Invitational), Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
A Collective Voice, Selections from Vox Populi, The Temple Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Curated by Stephen Salel
El-A-Vision, Juried Exhibition, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
‍Gala Visual Arts: Annual Gay And Lesbian Group Shows, Philadelphia, PA
Paper Prayers, MANNA Fundraiser, Philadelphia, PA

1992
Vox Populi at the Community Education Center, Philadelphia, PA
Gala Visual Arts: Annual Gay And Lesbian Group Shows, Philadelphia, PA
Juried by Judith Stein And David Lebe
Northern Lights Festival, Site-Specific Installation, Juried Exhibition, North Second Street, Philadelphia, PA

1990
‍Gala Visual Arts: Annual Gay And Lesbian Group Shows, Philadelphia, PA

1991
‍Gala Visual Arts: Annual Gay And Lesbian Group Shows, Philadelphia, PA
Juried by Anthony Gorny

1989
Works On Paper, Juried Exhibition, Abington Arts Center, Abington, PA
Juried Exhibition
‍Gala Visual Arts: Annual Gay And Lesbian Group Shows, Philadelphia, PA

1988
Gala Visual Arts: Annual Gay And Lesbian Group Shows, Philadelphia, PA