Born 1995 in London, UK.
Lives and works in London, UK and Athens, GR.
About
| British artist Lewis Brander (b. 1995) examines desire and memory within contemporary visual art. With a practice that spans painting, drawing, photography and writing, Brander is largely concerned with re-examining male sexuality’s place within visual art and bringing to light the tension between subjectivity, objectivity and authorship when it comes to contemporary image-making. In Brander’s paintings the handling of subject matter is oblique; hand-ground oils are lightly applied to raw linen and flax, the images often blurred and faded. The paintings often shift in subject matter; in one there may be a portrait of a Greek marble seller or a cloud study at dusk, in another a moment of physical intimacy. These disparate themes chronicle sentimental moments of contemporary life, creating a dialogue between different bodies of work into a succinct visual language concerned with the history of painting. In his practice as a photographer, Brander engages more directly with issues surrounding the male gaze and sexuality, exploring the link between the sex industry, the refugee crisis and the Greek public debt crisis in an inner-city transition neighbourhood in central Athens over the course of two years. By utilising gender to explore a seedy, dangerous and male-only neighbourhood at night, The Silk Mill (2019-20), documents the sinister atmosphere evoked by the neon painted entrances of brothels that inhabit an area blighted by urban decay, drug violence and a decade-long fiscal crisis. By largely omitting the individuals who inhabit or frequent these establishments, Brander explores how colour and architecture can be as revealing as portraiture when addressing issues surrounding desire, coercion and an industry endemic with sex-trafficked migrants fleeing war and crisis. Lewis Brander is based between London and Athens. He graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsmiths College in 2018 and was based exclusively in Athens from 2018-2020. |
Education
| 2018 | Goldsmiths College University of London, B.A., London, UK |
Awards
| 2018 | Shortlisted for the HIX Award |
| Shortlisted for Bloomberg New Contemporaries |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2018 | 30 Drawings: Lewis Brander, Vardaxoglou, London, UK |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2021 | (forthcoming) Maison Hugo, Hot Wheels Athens, Athens, GR |
| 2019 | Odyssey, Odissou 10, Athens, GR |
| 2018 | Out of Bodies, THRDS Studio, London, UK |
| Kensington and Chelsea Art Weekend, Vardaxoglou, London, UK | |
| Painting, Vardaxoglou, London, UK | |
| Goldsmiths (BA Hons) Fine Art Degree Show, London, UK |
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| Emerging Artists, The Walkie Talkie | 20 Fenchurch St, London, UK | |
| Numerous and Often Varied, The Take Courage Gallery, London, UK | |
| Sixteen Steps, Vardaxoglou, London, UK | |
| 2017 | Cloth, Vardaxoglou, London, UK |
| The Early Works, Vardaxoglou, London, UK | |
| A Vulgar Display Of, London, UK | |
| 2016 | Revenge Bod, London, UK |
Selected Press
| 2018 | Charlie Newman, Inside ‘Out of Bodies’, F Word Magazine (Online), October 2018 |
| Goldsmiths Gallery/ Class of 2018, Tatler (Print), October 2018 | |
| Invest in Art 2018, Saatchi Art (Print and Online), October 2018 | |
| Not Another Degree Show, Artsy (Online), July 2018 | |
| Vardaxoglou Exhibits South London’s Emerging Talent, Don’t Panic (Online), March 2018 |
Additional Projects
| 2019 | Cinematographer and Director of Photography, O’ Pierrot, Tanoa Sasraku, 2019. • Exhibitions and awards include: O’ Pierrot, LUX, London 2020, Arts Foundation Futures Award for Visual Arts 2021, 18th London short film festival 2021 (shortlisted). | |||
| 2018 | Cinematographer and Director of Photography, Whop, Cawbaby, Tanoa Sasraku, 2018. • Exhibitions and awards include: Nashashibi / Skaer, Tate St Ives, St Ives, 2019, Tenderflix 2018 "Future Responsibilities", BFI Southbank, London, 2018 | |||