Joshua Brennan

Joshua Brennan (b. 1980, Kenosha, Wisconsin) is a Boston-based artist and educator. He holds a BA in Graphic Design and Printmaking from the University of Wisconsin–Parkside and an MFA in Studio Art and Printmaking from Indiana University. Currently, he is a Lecturer at Boston University and serves as the Technical Associate in Printmaking and Photography, where he manages the printmaking facilities and teaches across all levels.

Joshua’s work combines analog and digital techniques, guided by conceptual frameworks that blend traditional and experimental printmaking methods, often resulting in abstract compositions that evolve into self-referential meta-abstractions.

His art has been featured in seven solo and two-person shows, as well as over 40 group exhibitions. Joshua has received several awards, including the centerfold winner for Artscope magazine, and his work is included in many collections including The Kinsey Institute, The Contemporary Crafts Museum in Portland, and the Kyoto International Woodprint Association in Japan.

Joshua’s work was featured in ‘Collections‘ on view September 14-29, 2024.

“Inspired by Willem de Kooning’s artistic practice of using drawings to plan and transform his compositions, I explore the idea of expansion and self-reference in my work using printmaking techniques. Beginning with a hand-made image, I experiment with different expressions and iterations through various digital apps, selecting the most compelling versions to be included in an artist’s book that resembles a coloring book. From this printed form, I add color and other imagery, digitize the pages, and make further edits on the computer to create new image variations. This iterative process builds upon each previous version, generating multiple possibilities in an ongoing dialogue with itself. The resulting artwork reflects the ebb and flow of the creative process, celebrating the growth cycle through experimentation, iteration, and transformation, and exploring the possibilities of printmaking and gestural abstraction. I strive to capture the invisible thread connecting each subsequent image while creating a dynamic lineage of infinite visual possibilities.”