The Thing About Artists

Lisa Brennan and Majida Burch are co-founders of Brennan & Burch, a design duo that has been knocking around for years. From way back in the 1980s they were ravers of the acid house generation, sneaking into clubs underage and hanging around Camden Town getting up to mischief! Their love of fashion led to them starting their own market stall in the infamous Electric Ballroom then later creating their streetwear fashion brand in 2000. They designed art on fashion for a decade and then seamlessly drifted into illustrated wallpaper and art.

Fast forward a good few years and Lisa moved from North London to start afresh in Havering, Essex. Majida soon followed to live but a stone’s throw away. Lisa and Majida found artist opportunities lacking for local creatives, so became dedicated to supporting artists by helping to nurture their local art scene and co-creating artist network YAYmates. The designers wanted to help raise the profile of mid-career artists living in the area by creating a book mixing their work with other strong artists. They created this book to celebrate the work of forty-eight artists and creatives from London and Essex. ‘The Thing About Artists’ brings high profile talent and less visible rising stars together in a book full of colour, mind-boggling creativity, interviews and bloody good art!

‘The Thing About Artists’ is a fascinating peek into the world of forty-eight of the most fabulous urban artists coming out of London and Essex over the last few decades. It is an amazing mash-up of styles including graffiti, pop art, illustration and photography that will grab your imagination and set it on fire! Featuring engaging artist interviews with frank outlooks on their roots, style, culture, work and inspiration, this book is an incredible opportunity to shout about the creative talent of artists to inspire the next generation.

Brennan & Burch will be launching their book through exhibitions, launch party, library talks, ‘meet the artist’ events, pop-up installations, private views, school visits and workshops. These will be held at various destinations during 2021 including:
360 Gallery @ Barking Enterprise Centre (Barking)
Appleby Gallery @ Frances Bardsley Academy for Girls (Romford)
Craft Central Gallery @ The Forge (Isle of Dogs)
Fry’s Gallery @ Fairkytes Art Centre (Hornchurch)
Havering Libraries/Havering Literary Festival (Havering)
The Mercury Mall (Romford)
TAP Art Gallery (Brentwood)

Exhibitions: https://brennanandburch.eventbrite.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thethingaboutartists/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thethingaboutartists/

The book was made possible by the generous support of Arts Council England, Havering Changing, London Borough of Havering, project partners and Spacehive pledges from individuals. See the crowdfunding journey here: https://www.spacehive.com/thethingaboutartists

The book costs £35 inc P&P and is available to purchase on our website.