Alexander Brener
Encyclopedia
Alexander Davidovič Brener (Russian: Александр Бренер) born 1957 in Alma-Ata, is a Russia
n-Jewish performance artist. His performances of note include defecating in front of a painting by Vincent Van Gogh
at the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow
, having sex on city streets, and vandalizing art work.
He was jailed in 1997 for painting a green dollar sign on Kazimir Malevich
's painting Suprematisme. In the court case Brener said in his defense:
He was sentenced to time in prison, where he wrote obosani pistolet. In the text he explains his beliefs and summarizes his actions.
He co-wrote BUKAKA SPAT HERE, Tattoos auf Gefängnissen, and Anti technologies of resistance with Barbara Schurz
.
Brener is mentioned in passing in Stewart Home
's novel Memphis Underground.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n-Jewish performance artist. His performances of note include defecating in front of a painting by Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
at the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, having sex on city streets, and vandalizing art work.
He was jailed in 1997 for painting a green dollar sign on Kazimir Malevich
Kazimir Malevich
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich was a Russian painter and art theoretician, born of ethnic Polish parents. He was a pioneer of geometric abstract art and the originator of the Avant-garde Suprematist movement.-Early life:...
's painting Suprematisme. In the court case Brener said in his defense:
- The cross is a symbol of suffering, the dollar sign a symbol of trade and merchandise. On humanitarian grounds are the ideas of JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
ChristChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
of higher significance than those of the money. What I did was not against the painting. I view my act as a dialogue with Malevich.
He was sentenced to time in prison, where he wrote obosani pistolet. In the text he explains his beliefs and summarizes his actions.
He co-wrote BUKAKA SPAT HERE, Tattoos auf Gefängnissen, and Anti technologies of resistance with Barbara Schurz
Barbara Schurz
Barbara Schurz was born 1973 in Klagenfurt, Carinthia. She is an artist and self-described "revolutionary activist" from Austria....
.
Brener is mentioned in passing in Stewart Home
Stewart Home
Stewart Home is an English artist, filmmaker, writer, pamphleteer, art historian, and activist. He is best known for his novels such as the non-narrative 69 Things To Do With A Dead Princess , his re-imagining of the 1960s in Tainted Love , and earlier parodistic pulp fictions Pure Mania, Red...
's novel Memphis Underground.
External links
- Article: http://web.archive.org/web/20070314055854/http://www.renewal.org.au/artcrime/pages/malevich1.html
- Article: 'Violence to Endurance: Extreme Curating' at the ICA
- Letter of support for Brener: http://web.archive.org/web/20070116125615/http://www.ljudmila.org/embassy/brener.htm