BRIAN DENNIS, artist

Brian Dennis is an artist working primarily in drawing and painting. Centred on the human figure, his practice explores identity, desire, vulnerability and transformation through a combination of observation, memory and imagination.

Drawing has been at the heart of Brian's work for many years. Through life drawing, portraiture and years of observing the people around him, he creates work that starts with a particular person but looks for something recognisable in all of us. Drawing on mythology, religious imagery and London's lesser-seen queer subcultures, his work seeks to uncover the extraordinary within the familiar and the humanity hidden within the symbols we create. Over time, Brian became increasingly fascinated by the individuality of the people he drew. His work is less concerned with idealised beauty than with the qualities that make a person uniquely themselves. He is interested in the character, vulnerability and humanity that draw us in, and in the small details that make someone memorable long after first meeting them. 

Alongside his studio practice, Brian has organised and hosted life drawing events across London, helping to create spaces where artists, models and audiences can meet through a shared commitment to looking closely and drawing honestly. These projects have included sessions at Leyden Gallery in  ssociation with Time Out, Barts and The London School of Medicine, and House of St Barnabas. Brian has exhibited regularly in London and beyond for more than fifteen years. 

His exhibition history includes the Royal Institute of Oil Painters 123rd Annual Exhibition (2010), Burning Bright in association with Saatchi Gallery (2013), Re:Defining Beauty at Leyden Gallery (2015), Now, Where Are We? marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Wolfenden Report (2017), Dartington Outing (2017), The Gardens of Earthly Delights (2021), The Divine Complex (2022) and The Disco at the End of the Universe at Great Pulteney Street Gallery (2025). He has also contributed work to the Terrence Higgins Trust Art Auction at Christie's in 2025 and 2026. 

Recent work has explored the visual language images and how meaning can change depending on how we see them. For The Disco at the End of the Universe, Brian created a series of double-image paintings that revealed different narratives when turned upside down, inviting viewers to reconsider ideas of fortune, loss, resilience and hope. 

Whether working from direct observation or symbolic imagery, Brian's work remains rooted in a fascination with people. Again and again, he returns to the things that connect us: character, vulnerability, desire, resilience, and the humanity that exists beneath appearances. 

Instagram: @briandenisdenis