Alexander Brener

Alexander Brener studied at Kazakh National Pedagogical University. The recorded working language is Russian and English. The field of work recorded is performance art, poetry and action art. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are performance art. Work by Alexander Brener is recorded in the collections of Art Museum of Estonia.

• Name — Alexander Brener • Born — 1957 • Birthplace — Alma-Ata, Kazak ASSR, Soviet Union • Known for — Performance art, literature art-activism • Training — Kazakh National Pedagogic University (named after Abay) • Movement — Moscow Actionism, Neoism, Actionism

Brener's performances of note include defecating in front of a painting by Vincent van Gogh at the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, having sex in front of the Monument to Alexander Pushkin (Rostov-on-Don), and vandalizing art works by other artists. He was jailed in 1997 for painting a green dollar sign on Kazimir Malevich's painting Suprematisme. In the court case Brener said in his defense: • The cross is a symbol of suffering, the dollar sign a symbol of trade and merchandise. On humanitarian grounds are the ideas of Jesus Christ of higher significance than those of the money. What I did was not against the painting. I view my act as a dialogue with Malevich. Giancarlo Politi, the editor of Flash Art, resolutely defended Brener from the pages of his magazine, stirring controversy and campaigning for his acquittal. Brener was sentenced to five months in prison, where he wrote the essay Obossani Pistolet. In the text he explains his beliefs and summarizes his actions. In 2000 Brener disrupted the press conference of Manifesta 3 in Ljubljana by spraying slogans on the presentation screen and handing out leaflets stating: "Demolish neo-liberalist multicultural art system now!" Bodyguards came and dragged Brener out of the hall. He was later arrested by Slovenian secret police in the streets. In 2003 Brener vandalized the work of Swiss-Italian artist Gianni Motti during the opening of Motti's exhibition "Turnover" at Artra Gallery in Milan. Brener co-wrote a number of books together with Austrian artist and critic Barbara Schurz, including Bukaka spat Here, Tattoos auf Gefängnissen, Anti Technologies of Resistance and The Art of Destruction. Brener is mentioned in passing in Stewart Home's 2007 novel Memphis Underground. An artwork by the art collective IOCOSE is dedicated to Brener.

He also worked under the name Bertran de Born. The authorities additionally record the heading Alexander Davidovich Brener. His recorded languages were Russian and English.