SEW Regional Day - Michael Brennand-Wood

Michael Brennand-Wood

Michael Brennand-Wood, visual artist, curator, lecturer, arts consultant. Since 1979 he has occupied a central position in the research, origination and advocacy of contemporary International Art Textiles. He has exhibited in major galleries and museums world wide, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa and National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

His work can be seen in private, public and corporate collections worldwide. He won The Creative Concept Award in 1987 and The Fine Art Award in 1989 at the International Textile Competition in Kyoto, followed by the first RSA Art for Architecture Award 1990. In 1990 he was awarded a Distinguished Visiting Fellow, British Council, City University, Kyoto, Japan. In 1992 he was 1st Prize Winner at the 3rd International Betonac Prize in Belgium.

"World of Echoes", courtesy of Michael Brennand-Wood

In 1982 he curated the controversial exhibition ‘Fabric and Form’ and co-curated the ‘Makers Eye’ both for the Crafts Council, followed in 1992 with ‘Restless Shadows’ a major Goldsmiths College touring exhibition of contemporary Japanese Textiles. Until 1989 he was a senior lecturer in the department of visual art at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He has taught extensively in colleges and universities in the UK and overseas, and has undertaken residencies in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Belgium.

From 2001-08 he was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) Fellowship in the Creative and Performing Arts in conjunction with the University of Ulster to research geometrical complexity in Central Asian textiles at Ulster University, Belfast. In 2007 he won the Fine Art Award, Pfaff Art Embroidery Still Life in France.

He is currently Visiting Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University.

"Flower Head- Narcissistic Butterfly", courtesy of Michael Brennand-Wood

He has recently competed two new works for the Yorkshire Cancer Centre in Leeds and developed an interdisciplinary arts programme for Colston Hall, a music venue in Bristol.

More information is available on Michael's website.