Maeve Brennan: Records
Maeve Brennan: Records

General

Artist: Maeve Brennan

Curator: Tiffany Leung

The UK-based artist and filmmaker Maeve Brennan explores the legacy of human impact on the environment and unearths hidden narratives within society’s dominant narratives. Led by an investigative approach, her works span moving image, installation, sculpture, and printed media.

Central to Brennan’s practice is research focusing particularly on ecological issues, obscured material past, and underground economies. Despite grappling with complex structures and systems, Brennan engages with her subjects intimately, drawing from chance encounters, personal experiences, and long-term relationships.

Presenting her works for the first time in Asia, this exhibition brings together works from The Goods, an ongoing project that delves into the international traffic in looted antiquities. Also debuting in the exhibition is a new film that traces stolen objects back to Southern Italy, weaving together local stories and anecdotes to understand the impact of archeological excavation on the region’s landscape and communities.

Records is part of Tai Kwun Contemporary’s new Breakthrough series, which underlines emerging artistic positions through solo presentations, commissions, and innovative formats. For Spring 2025, Maeve Brennan: Records is presented alongside Alicja Kwade: Pretopia and Hu Xiaoyuan: Veering. These (three) exhibitions by three female artists explore materials and storytelling through diverse approaches.

Biography

Maeve Brennan

Maeve Brennan is a London-based artist and filmmaker whose practice explores the social, political, and historical resonance of objects and place. Brennan works primarily with moving image as well as installation, sculpture, and printed matter. Adopting a documentary approach, she develops long-term investigations and provides an intimate look into her subjects. She often collaborates closely with geologists, archaeologists, and architects, producing complex and layered accounts that disrupt dominant representations.

Recent solo exhibitions of her work have been held at the Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, E-WERK Freiburg; Stanley Picker Gallery, London; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Spike Island, Bristol; the Whitworth, Manchester; Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin; the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku; and Kunsthaus Bregenz. Brennan’s work was featured in British Art Show 9 (2021–2022) and screened at festivals including CPH:DOX (New:Vision Award shortlist), the Open City Documentary Festival, the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Tiger Shorts Award Shortlist), FILMADRID, Sheffield Doc Fest, and Sonic Acts in Amsterdam.