Artist, poet and historian Tim Brennan joins Manchester School of Art

Professor Tim Brennan, a contemporary artist, poet and historian, has joined Manchester School of Art as Professor of Art, Head of the Department of Art.

Tim has previously worked as Director of MA Curating at Goldsmiths, Associate Dean at the University of Sunderland and Professor of Art/Director of Pre-Doctoral Studies at the College of Creative Arts, Massey University, New Zealand.

He has exhibited internationally over the last 30 years, with work being shown at the 50th and 54th Venice Biennales, Interzone Performance Biennale in Quebec Canada and AV Festival in Newcastle. He has also contributed to over 15 monograph publications and multiple academic journals, while in 2007 he was shortlisted for the UK’s Northern Arts Prize. 

In addition, most recently he has showcased his new work ‘жевательная резинка’ at Castlefield Gallery. This performance piece marked the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, and forms part of an ongoing sequence ‘Soviet Works for the Russian Market’. It consisted of a 2 hour ‘celebration’ punctuated by two short actions set to Shostakovich’s Symphony Number 2 ‘The Spirit of Revolution’. 

‘I have wanted to work with Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan Univeristy for some years’, commented Tim. 

‘Having led programmes and developed courses across the country, I was lucky enough to deliver a masterclass as part of the School’s innovative Unit X in 2016. I was impressed by the passion and critical engagement of the students, and when the post of Head of the Department of Art came up, I had to go for it. 

The School has some great alumni with a great heritage that include Sylvia Pankhurst and Walter Crane. It is truly inspiring to be a part of its hisotry and its future.’