Julia Brennacher

At the core of Brennacher's work lies an ongoing investigation into the nature of painterly space. Working with oil, acrylic, and spray paint, she combines and juxtaposes different materials, exploring their physical properties and visual interactions. Her compositions are characterised by a reduced formal vocabulary of curves, lines, and geometric shapes, which develop a sense of depth and movement through overlapping layers of colour and form. The resulting works oscillate between flatness and spatial illusion, structure and spontaneity, creating dynamic visual relationships within the pictorial surface.

Beyond the individual canvas, Brennacher approaches painting as a medium that actively engages with its surrounding environment. She frequently develops her works as interconnected ensembles, considering their arrangement and interaction within a specific architectural context. Her practice also extends into three-dimensional pictorial objects that exist between painting and sculpture. Functioning as sculptural colour bodies or supports for large-scale canvases, these works bring painting directly into physical space, challenging conventional distinctions between image, object, and environment.

Colour plays a central role in this process. Through contrasts, reflections, harmonies, and dissonances, Brennacher establishes visual connections between individual works, allowing forms and colours to resonate across an exhibition space. Her approach is intuitive and experimental, guided by a playful exploration of painterly possibilities rather than predetermined compositional systems.

Brennacher's exhibition history includes Spaces of Resonance II at SUPPAN Schaulager, Vienna (2025), Spaces of Resonance at Galerie am Polylog, Wörgl (2024), Playing Field at SUPPAN, Vienna (2023), The Painter's Delight at Galerie Sophia Vonier, Salzburg (2022–2023), and Spatial Encounters at Plattform 6020, Innsbruck (2020). Further exhibitions include Companions at Galerie Sophia Vonier, Salzburg (2025–2026), Double Vision at Galerie Schloss Wiespach, Hallein (2025–2026), and Salon Expanded VI at Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen, Innsbruck (2025). Her work has also been presented at the Salzburger Kunstverein and the Austrian Cultural Forum in Brussels, as well as at international art fairs in Vienna and Copenhagen. In 2026, her work was featured in the Kunstreihe Tirol in Innsbruck.

Her works are represented in public and institutional collections, including the Collection of the State of Tyrol, the Collection of the City of Innsbruck, and the Raiffeisen Landesbank Tirol Collection. In 2022, she was awarded a working grant from the City of Innsbruck and participated in an artist residency at Schloss Wiespach in Hallein.

Through her exploration of colour, material, and spatial relationships, Brennacher expands the possibilities of contemporary painting, transforming the canvas from an isolated pictorial surface into an active element within a larger architectural and visual dialogue.