Alexander Brener

Who is Alexander Brener?

Alexander Davidovich Brener born 1957 in Alma-Ata, is a Russian-Jewish performance artist, a self-described political activist. He is considered as one of the main figures of Moscow Actionism along with Oleg Kulik.

His performances of note include defecating in front of a painting by Vincent van Gogh at the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, having sex on city streets, and vandalizing art work.

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.

He was sentenced to five month in prison, where he wrote obossani pistolet. In the text he explains his beliefs and summarizes his actions. He co-wrote BUKAKA SPAT HERE, Tattoos auf Gefängnissen, and Anti technologies of resistance with Barbara Schurz.

Brener is mentioned in passing in Stewart Home's novel Memphis Underground.