Brendan Fernandes

Fernandes was born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1979. His family, Indians in Kenya of Goan descent, who lived in Africa for five generations, moved to Canada when he was nine years old due to political unrest. Fernandes went to school in Newmarket, Ontario. == Education ==

Fernandes trained professionally as a ballet dancer, but tore his hamstring during his senior year in college, and the injury ended his dance career. He went on to train as a visual artist and completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at York University in Toronto, and then pursued a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario. In 2007, he graduated from the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan, New York. == Awards and recognition ==

Fernandes was a 2010 Sobey Art Award nominee and awarded the Robert Rauschenberg Fellowship (2014). His projects have been presented at venues, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), The Getty Museum (Los Angeles), and the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa). == Exhibitions and performances ==

Fernandes exhibited a series of sculptures and live performances at The Graham Foundation titled The Master and Form, in 2018. The series explored mastery and discipline within the culture of ballet through the use of designed objects that enable dancers to perfect and extend iconic positions. This work was featured in the 2019 Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art. This performance art piece was later presented in the Kogod Courtyward of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in June 2019. In 2011, Fernandes was included in Found in Translation, exhibition at The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York. On the occasion of Fernandes' Noguchi Museum project he has published a book titled Re/Form in 2022. == References ==