Yann Brien is a French artist based in London.
His paintings and prints use the repetition of geometric elements and a minimal, high-contrast colour palette to make images that refuse to settle: depth and volume appear, flip and dissolve before the eye can decide what it’s seeing.
His ongoing research draws on Gestalt psychology, and on how we identify patterns, group similar elements and simplify complex images when perceiving objects. He sets those tendencies against each other, so that perception stays unresolved for as long as the viewer keeps looking.
Each work begins as a freehand sketch and evolves digitally until no element can be added or taken away without altering its essence. The construction is plain to see and easy to grasp, yet knowing how it works doesn’t affect the perceptual mechanism at its core.
Yann’s pieces engage perception and thought together, challenging our understanding of perceptual organisation, volume and depth, and inviting viewers to notice how their own mind organises what they see.
Education
Camberwell College of Arts
MA in Visual Arts (Illustration) - 2006-2008.
Collections
V&A, London, UK .
UKNBC Meshtec, Tokyo, Japan.
Private collections in Paris, London, Antwerp, Chicago, Geneva, Singapore.
Featured
"Reinventing screenprinting" - C. Williamson - A&C Black (1847).
Sunday Times, Cover Magazine, Time Out.
Selected Exhibitions
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition - 2025.
100/50 - Unit 1 Gallery - London - 2025.
Paintlab 23 - London - 2023.
Small Wonders - Well Hung - London 2022.
Roy’s Art fair - London - 2019.
Festival of print - ELP*- London - 2018.
The Other Art Fair - London - 2017.
Festival of print - ELP - London - 2017.
Three is the perfect number - London - 2017.
Festival of print - ELP - London - 2016.
Excited States - Atom Gallery - London - 2016.
Look Up - 4 Corners - London - 2016.
5th Tokyo Screenprint Biennale - Tokyo - 2015.
ELP - The Bainbridge Gallery - London - 2015.
Between the lines - Atom - London - 2015.
The London Illustration Fair - London - 2015.
East London Design Show - London - 2014.
ELP Summer Show - London - 2014.
Node Rugs - Illustratour - Madrid - 2014.
The London Illustration Fair - London - 2013.
Superstripe - London - 2013.
Clerkenwell Design Week - London - 2013.
Multiplied - Christie's - London - 2011.
12 prints - Print Club - London - 2011.
Power In Numbers - Loop - Chicago - 2011.
Pick Me Up - London - 2011.
Multiplied - Christie's - London - 2010.
Pick Me Up - London - 2010.
(*ELP: East London Printmakers)
Should you be interested in knowing more about the work displayed on this website, wish to discuss a commission, a collaboration or just want to say hello, please get in touch.
© Yann Brien 2026 - All rights reserved