Meet Hanna
Hanna Bruer is an abstract artist in Madison, WI. Her expressionist paintings prominently feature illegible text embedded in abstract layers and atmospheres. She has permanent installations throughout the Midwest, including Northwestern Technical College, Sunseed Research, and Dane County Credit Union. Bruer has worked with the National Alliance on Mental Illness for their Healing Art Shows, earning Best In Show Finalist in 2015. She has provided live painting performances at venues such as the Majestic Theater and Memorial Union Terrace in Madison, as well as for Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Gallery Nights. Her work and story have been featured in the Isthmus and Cap Times publications, as well as NBC15 News.
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Hanna Bruer is an abstract artist in Madison, WI. Her expressionist paintings prominently feature illegible text embedded in abstract layers and atmospheres. She has permanent installations throughout the Midwest, including Northwestern Technical College and Dane County Credit Union. Bruer has worked with the National Alliance on Mental Illness for their Healing Art Shows, earning Best In Show Finalist in 2015. She has provided live painting performances at venues such as the Majestic Theater and Memorial Union Terrace in Madison, as well as for Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Gallery Nights. Her work and story have been featured in the Isthmus and Cap Times publications, as well as NBC15 News.
On top of an abstract atmosphere, the most identifiable aspect of her work is the use of text as imagery. The text is often an essay to herself; unspoken words of frustration and discovery involved with her daily fight for resilience. The importance of each gesture, word, and emotion reveal themselves in the layers of each piece. To combat self-doubt and insecurity, Hanna also offers her work as a performance, painting and baring her internal self in front of an audience. She converts a blank canvas into an active work of art, letting the bystander experience her creative process. |
Creation, contemplation, violence, destruction. My paintings are visual documentation of untold stories striving to find their voice. I draw my inspiration from inner dissonance, adverse experience, and unfailing resilience. Process holds the power to my work. I throw myself into each piece, attempting to unite the overbearing dichotomy of my being and to reach a temporary answer to an ever-changing question. Each piece is a complete thought jotted down and worked over until my brain has expelled its energy. The depth of my art lies in the impulse of the gesture, the emotion in the movement, and the pain of the unheard struggle. The use of text as image ties everything together to become not only a work of art, but an entire cathartic experience for both artist and audience. I aim for my work to inspire the viewer to wonder, to ask questions, and to reach inward for their own answers with reckless abandon. Dive in, design, emote, paint, expel, tell a story, repeat. |
RECENT PRESS
 Photo by Amy Stocklein
HANNA BRUER'S GRUNGE ART
BY CATHERINE CAPELLARO Isthmus Madison NOVEMBER 7, 2019 It’s the “magic hour” when the sun is setting and Hanna Bruer swipes the first layers of paint on a canvas in the lobby of HotelRed. Enormous glass windows look right onto Camp Randall, which glows in the waning sun. Perhaps inspired by the pink-orange tone of the stadium’s stone facade, she adds a layer of pink to a canvas propped up on an easel near the front door. It’s Gallery Night, the twice-yearly event when museums, galleries and businesses throw open their doors for roving crowds of art lovers. HotelRed’s hip red and gray interior has high ceilings and cement floors, and when Bruer starts to paint, it’s nearly deserted. But Bruer is relaxed and taking her time. She plans to take the whole evening, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., to create her painting. Finished canvases are set up in a semicircle around her and drop cloths lie on the floor around her easel. Her finished acrylic-ink paintings are abstract, and layered with dynamic swipes and drips of color and elegant, illegible cursive writing. They radiate life. “I use my paintings kind of as a journal that no one gets to read except for me,” says Bruer, standing with one foot on the foot of the easel, one tattooed arm reaching up to grasp the top of the painting. “I can write legibly; I just choose not to.” For the last five years, Bruer has been taking what is typically a private pursuit, into public spaces for “live painting” events. Mostly, she has painted at music clubs while bands play. She discovered this mode of working after seeing an ad for a live painter for a show at the Majestic. “I was like, ‘What is that? That doesn’t even sound decent,’” remembers Bruer. “That’s something that you do in the privacy of your own home. It’s a very personal thing. But I put my name in, and said I would do it.” She did it five times that summer. “And now I’ve done it 8 million times...well, not quite,” says Bruer. “It’s a way to be interactive and entertained while you’re doing the thing that’s very vulnerable, because it’s your art.” Bruer is deliberate, stepping back and assessing the work-in-progress before smearing most of it away and stopping to chat with visitors and her husband, Jake Swenson, who sits nearby. Live painting has transformed her relationship to her art, says Bruer. “I’ve gotten more comfortable with it. I used to be very private,” she says. “I have an art degree but I would not sell them, not show them. But I decided to just throw myself out there, and started doing live painting, which was very uncharacteristic for me. It just kind of changed how I feel about it. I’m very comfortable. It’s a little nerve-wracking still, but it is very freeing.” In college at UW-Stevens Point, Bruer studied photography and “hated” painting. But seven years after she graduated, a landlord in Middleton offered her some paints left behind by a previous tenant. “And so I just had all these paints sitting in my apartment, and one night I just went for it and I kind of fell in love.” By 7:30, the painting has more color, and some inked words. But Bruer is dissatisfied, dabbing and wiping parts that don’t feel right. “I hate it, so I paint over it,” she says, adding that she’s “in it for the long haul.” She’s enjoying the process, too. Minus one irritant: the bland R&B piped in over the hotel’s sound system. “I’m definitely a ’90s grunge person,” says Bruer. “So this is not my jam. This is piercing me right to the brain. “What I tend to do is to listen to a whole song, over and over, through the whole painting. I’m definitely a big Nirvana fan. I’ve always loved my dark gritty rock. I’m a big Marilyn Manson fan as well….It helps me get out all my frustrations, and it’s really visceral. I love it.” Records Bruer usually listens to while painting: Failure: Fantastic Planet; Cold: Self Titled; Placebo: Without You I’m Nothing; Marilyn Manson: Antichrist Superstar; Nirvana: Bleach; Zao: Self Titled. Average times she listens to the same song while creating a painting: 50 Times she has painted live at the Majestic Theatre: 8 Times she has painted live at the Malt House: 9 Pairs of “painty pants” she owns: 6 Colors her hands are after Hotel Red work: 5 Paintbrushes she uses in her paintings: 0 Rolls of blue shop towels purchased this year: 14 Price of the painting created at Hotel Red: $800 Next live painting event: Nov. 18, High Noon Saloon: FlowPoetry’s Compression book release and rock and roll show. |
HANNA BRUER & QUIET CONTROL
Isthmus Madison Dec 20, 2019 Monroe Arts Center, Monroe 1315 11th St., Monroe, Wisconsin 53566 What are you trying to control? Hanna Bruer explores the concept and struggles of control in her new body of work on display at the Monroe Arts Center. Bruer’s abstract paintings will be on display from December 20, 2019, through March 20, 2020. The opening reception will take place on January 31st, 2020 from 5-7pm with an artist talk at 6pm. The gallery is located at 1315 11th St, Monroe WI. “Every individual is trying to keep in command of something that we know nothing about, and it’s a silent, personal battle for each of us. Whether it’s trying to control ourselves, our environment, or our actions, we’re all working at it. No one is really alone when they feel like things are out of their control. This body of work is exploring those obstacles and feelings,” says Bruer. Her expressionist works combine illegible script with grunge textures to create lively, visceral atmospheres. From stark, contrasting black and whites to gentle, muted colors, the works are both bold and tender. For the first time, Bruer will display text that correlates with each piece. While the text for each work is often masked and obscured, some of the inspiration will be printed for the viewer to read at this show. Find her work at www.hannabruer.com. 
"Future Self" by Hanna Bruer. Acrylic and ink on canvas.
QUIET CONTROL
BY HANNA BRUER Friday, December 20, 2019 through Friday, March 20, 2020 Frehner Gallery Hanna's paintings are hidden stories striving to find their voice, and each piece is an attempt to make sense of unsure answers to ever-changing questions. Intertwining scrawled out text with abstract atmospheres, she creates stories within layers of paint and ink. The words in her work draw influence from inner dissonance, adverse experience, and unfailing resilience within herself as well as from society. Each account may be written out and written over as the narrative changes. Process is what gives her work its power - the unabashed impulse of the gesture, emotion in the movement, and pain of the unheard struggle. The use of text as image ties everything together to become not only a work of art, but a cathartic experience for both artist and audience. She aims for her work to inspire the viewer to ask questions and fearlessly reach inward to discover their own answers and stories. Hanna Bruer relocated to Madison, Wisconsin in 2008 after earning her bachelor's degree with an emphasis in 2-dimensional art and photography at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Since that time, her work has come to prominently feature illegible text and abstract layers. She has permanent installations throughout the midwest, including Northwestern Technical College and Dane County Credit Union. She has worked with the National Alliance on Mental Illness for their Healing Art Shows, earning Best In Show Finalist in 2015. In addition, she has provided live painting performances at the Majestic Theater and Memorial Union Terrace in Madison, as well as for Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Gallery Nights. Her work and story have been featured in the numerous publications. On top of an abstract atmosphere, the most prominent, identifiable aspect of her work is the use of text as imagery. The text is often an essay to herself; unspoken words of frustration and discovery involved with her daily fight for resilience. The importance of each gesture, movement, word, and emotion reveal themselves in the layers of each piece. To combat self-doubt and insecurity, Hanna also offers her work as a performance, painting and baring her internal self in front of an audience. She converts a blank canvas into an active work of art, letting the bystander experience her creative process. Monroe Arts Center gallery exhibitions and opening receptions are free and open to the public. |
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EXHIBITION RECORD [*denotes group show]
2020 Solo Exhibition, Madison Squash Workshop, Madison WI (Aug-Sept) 2020 Fitch-Rona Art Crawl, Quivey's Grove, Fitchburg WI (March) 2019 Quiet Control, Monroe Arts Center, Monroe WI (Dec 2019 - Mar 2020) 2019 Solo Exhibition, GNP, Madison WI (Apr-June) 2019 Solo Exhibition, Quivey's Grove, Fitchburg WI (Mar) 2018 NAMI's 12th Annual Healing Art Show, Lakeside St Coffee, Madison WI (Oct-Nov)* 2018 Solo Exhibition, Hawks Quindel SC, Madison WI (Oct) 2018 Solo Exhibition, Industrious, Madison WI (May-July) 2018 Solo Exhibition, Synergy Coworking, Madison WI (Aug 2017 - May 2019) 2018 Fitch-Rona Art Crawl, Hop Haus Brewing, Verona WI (Mar) 2017 In All This Vastness, Gib's, Madison WI (Nov 2017 - Jan 2018) 2017 Solo Exhibition, Hawks Quindel SC, Madison WI (Oct) 2017 Solo Exhibition, Synergy Coworking, Madison WI (Oct) 2017 Solo Exhibition, Alchemy, Madison WI (June-Aug) 2016 Solo Exhibition, Lauer Realty Group, Madison WI (Nov) 2016 Dead and Buried, Fat City Emporium, Madison WI* (Nov) 2016 Homemade for the Holidays, Madison WI* (Nov) 2016 Fat City Emporium's First Friday Show, Winedown, Madison WI* (Oct) 2016 Fat City Emporium’s Gallery Night, Winedown, Madison WI* (Oct) 2016 Fat City Emporium’s Inaugural First Friday Show, Winedown, Madison WI* (July) 2016 Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Spring Gallery Night, Lauer Realty Group, Madison WI* (May) 2015 Solo Exhibition, Knupp & Watson & Wallman Advertising, Madison WI (May-July) 2015 Biting the Silver Tongue, Mother Fool’s Coffee House, Madison WI (June) 2015 NAMI Wisconsin’s 9th Annual Healing Art Show, VSA WI Gallery, Madison WI* Finalist: Best in Show (Oct-Dec) 2015 Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Gallery Night, VSA WI Gallery, Madison WI* (May) 2015 100Arts depART: Laika Boss, Madison WI* (May) 2013 RAW: Encompass, High Noon Saloon, Madison WI* (Oct) 2013 Solo Exhibition, Electric Earth, Madison WI (June-Aug) COMMISSIONS, VIDEOS, AND PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS 2019 Hawks Quindel Law Firm, Madison WI, Corporate Art Commission and Permanent Installation 2018 Sunseed Research LLC, Madison WI, Permanent Installation 2018 Verona Vision Care, Verona WI, Corporate Art Commission and Permanent Installation 2018 Lakeside Street Coffee House, Madison WI, Permanent Installation 2018 Dane County Credit Union, Madison WI, Corporate Art Commission and Permanent Installation 2018 "I Love You, I Steal Your Gas" Music Video by Mark Mallman and Dick Valentine, Live Painting Performance 2017 Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Green Bay WI, Public Art Commission and Permanent Installation 2016 Validic, Durham, NC, Corporate Art Commission and Permanent Installation 2015 Blue Gem Tattooing, Green Bay WI, Permanent Installation EDUCATION University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, BA, Studio and 2-Dimensional Art Emphasis, 2008 |
LIVE PAINTING PERFORMANCES
2020 LiveStream Painting, Instagram Live, (Mar-July) 2020 Fitch-Rona Art Crawl, Quivey's Grove, Fitchburg WI (Mar) 2019 Compression Book Release and Rock + Roll Show, High Noon Saloon, Madison WI (Nov) 2019 Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Fall Gallery Night, HotelRed, Madison WI (Oct) 2019 Live Painting, Malt House Tavern, Madison WI (July, August, Oct) 2019 Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Spring Gallery Night, Hawks Quindel SC, Madison WI (Oct) 2019 Fitch-Rona Art Crawl, Quivey's Grove, Fitchburg WI (Mar) 2019 14th Anniversary Special Event, Bliss Flow Yoga, Madison WI (Jan) 2018 Live From The Nest - The Daily Cardinal, UW Madison Campus, WI (Aug) 2018 4th of July Special Event, Memorial Union Terrace, Madison WI (July) 2018 Live Painting, Malt House, Madison WI (June) 2018 Private Wedding, Milwaukee WI (June) 2018 DCCU's 84th Annual Meeting, Dane County Credit Union, Madison WI 2018 Art Asana, Bliss Flow Yoga, Madison WI (Apr) 2018 Fitch-Rona Art Crawl, Verona Vision Care, Verona WI (Mar) 2018 Fitch-Rona Art Crawl, Hop Haus Brewing, Verona WI (Mar) 2017 Live Painting, Malt House, Madison WI (June) 2017 Private Wedding, Wausau WI (May) 2017 Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Fall Gallery Night, Hawks Quindel SC, Madison WI (May) 2017 Private Fundraiser, Chicago IL (Jan) 2016 Dead and Buried, Fat City Emporium, Madison WI (Dec) 2016 Homemade for the Holidays, Winedown, Madison WI (Dec) 2016 Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Fall Gallery Night, Matrix Coworking, Madison WI (Oct) 2016 This Is Our City hosted by Hive, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison WI (Sept) 2016 Majestic Theater 8th Annual SummerJam, Session 5, Madison WI (Sept) 2016 Majestic Theater 8th Annual SummerJam, Session 4, Madison WI (Aug) 2016 Majestic Theater 8th Annual SummerJam, Session 3, Madison WI (Aug) 2016 Majestic Theater 8th Annual SummerJam, Session 2, Madison WI (July) 2016 Marquette-Atwood Art Walk, Lauer Realty Group, Madison WI (May) 2016 Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Spring Gallery Night, Lauer Realty Group, Madison WI (May) 2015 Private Fundraiser, Milwaukee WI (Dec) 2015 Women Empowering Women Fundraiser, WE Int’l and Hawks Quindel, Madison WI (Nov) 2015 Private Wedding, Lake Windsor Golf Club, Windsor WI (Sept) 2015 Majestic Theater 7th Annual SummerJam, Session 4, Madison WI (Sept) 2015 Majestic Theater 7th Annual SummerJam, Session 3, Madison WI (Aug) 2015 Majestic Theater 7th Annual SummerJam, Session 1, Madison WI (July) PRESS & LINKS 2019 Catherine Capellaro, "Hanna Bruer's Grunge Art," Isthmus, Nov 7, Volume 44, Issue 45, p4 2018 NAMI Wisconsin's 12th Annual Healing Art Show, short biography, Madison WI, October, p 14. 2017 Lindsay Christians, "The Art of the Sale," Cap Times, Oct 18. 2015 NAMI Wisconsin’s 9th Annual Healing Art Show, short biography, Madison WI, Dec, p 13. 2015 Laura Jones, “The Art of Healing,” Isthmus, October 2, Volume 40, #39. p 32. 2015 Amy Carlson, Television Interview, NBC15 WMTV, Madison WI, Sept 9. 2013 Jason Ocker, “Text, Trinkets, and Tape: A RAWesome Good Time,” Project Famous Magazine. p 58-59. 2013 RAW: Natural Born Artists, Video Interview, Madison WI, Oct 17. |