Brandon Donahue’s practice is informed by traditions of street art, pop art and Arte Povera. Working primarily with assemblage and airbrushing techniques, he collects and repurposes mass-produced or found everyday articles and materials. Sports equipment, fallen street signs and video game controllers are transformed through various techniques and processes of airbrushing, spray-painting, deconstructing and then are reassembled in additive, repetitive formats. Emanating wonder and delight, these striking sculptural objects often reference the sacred geometry of the mandala or flowers blossoms as symbols of universal connection and rebirth. His site-specific installations engage the viewer in physical action and psychological play as they dissolve barriers between traditionally-defined high and low art forms and “white-box” art-viewing experiences. While his source objects possess communal, shared histories, his final works speak with accessibility and optimism beyond their given meanings or original forms.

Brandon Donahue was born in Memphis and lives and works in Nashville. He received an MFA from the University of Tennessee and his BFA from Tennessee State University. Donahue has had recent solo exhibitions in Nashville at Vanderbilt University, Oz Arts, and Seed Space; Wrather West Kentucky Museum, KY; and Athica Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, GA; and numerous group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad. He has received numerous awards, honors, grants, and residencies, and his work is in the collections of nexAir, Memphis; Tennessee State University, Nashville; The University of Tennessee Knoxville, Ewing Gallery, Knoxville, TN; and Toyota of Franklin, TN.