About:
Izaak Brandt (b. 1995) is a UK-based multidisciplinary artist and dancer whose practice spans sculpture, performance, sound, and film.
Drawing on over 18 years as an internationally competitive Breaker (Breakdancer), Brandt investigates themes of masculinity, ego, internal landscape, and connection; exploring the evolving symbolism of Hip-Hop within contemporary art. His work often begins with the raw materials of the body, translating the language of movement into sculptural forms, or recontextualising symbolic objects that shape our lived realities. Performance acts as both catalyst and companion to his sculptural output; a tool for embodied research and a means of navigating the internal landscape, which imbues the resulting objects with urgency, tension, and lived experience. Through this process, Brandt channels the improvisation, discipline, and communal ethos of Hip-Hop to examine how its core principles can serve as both medium and metaphor for expression, resistance, and memory.
Brandt’s primary material is cardboard, a foundational surface of early Breaking and Hip-Hop culture, used by buskers as an accessible alternative to the sprung studio floor. He adopts this material both symbolically and physically, constructing bodies and freeze-based forms from it. Structured and fragile, cardboard parallels the body itself: resilient yet vulnerable, temporary yet enduring. These hand-built forms are later cast in bronze, monumentalising gestures born on the street while retaining the tactile memory of the original material. In doing so, Brandt preserves the surface history, creases, and scars of cardboard within a historically monumental medium.
In 2020, Brandt was Artist in Residence at the Sarabande Foundation. In 2021, he was selected as one of 200 international artists to participate in Louis Vuitton LV200, commemorating 200 years of Louis Vuitton. His work has been exhibited internationally, including projects during Art Basel Miami Beach (2022), and as part of Future Fossils (2025–2026), a touring museum exhibition presented alongside artists such as Ai Weiwei, Rachel Whiteread and Do Ho Suh. Brandt’s work is held in private collections internationally and has been featured in publications including Vogue (2022), Forbes (2022) and Hypebeast (2021). From 2010 to 2020, he was a core member of Soul Mavericks, the UK’s leading Breaking company, touring internationally and performing to audiences of up to 14,000; an experience that laid the foundation for his movement-based practice.
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2024 - No Place Like Home / London, UK.
2023 - Fragile Defence / Fitzrovia Chapel / London, UK.
2021 - High Speed Freeze / Sarabande Foundation / London, UK.
Museums:
2026 - Future Fossils / Torggler Fine Arts Center / Newport News, USA.
2025 - Future Fossils / Susquehanna Art Museum / Harrisburg, USA.
2025 - Future Fossils / MassArt Art Museum (MAAM) / Boston, USA.
Selected Clients and Collaborations:
Louis Vuitton, Alexander McQueen Foundation: Sarabande, Adidas, Dom Perignon, Christian Louboutin, The Face Magazine, Loewe, Red Bull, Nike, Salomon Sportstyle, Saul Nash.
Group Exhibitions & Projects:
2025 - House of Bandits / Minor Attractions Art Fair / London, UK.
2025 - No Place Like Home Finale, Powered by Salomon / The Laundrette / Bristol, UK.
2025 - BBOY Stance / Window135 / London, UK.
2025 - Made In Bris / Space&purpose / London, UK.
2025 - No Place Like Bris /The Laundrette / Bristol, UK.
2025 - LAS Invites / London Art Services / London, UK.
2025 - House Of Bandits / Selfridges / London, UK.
2024 - Sporting Goods / Maison Pan / London, UK.
2023 - My Adidas / Adidas Sculpture Commission / Oxford Street, London, UK.
2023 - Sublime Synthesis / Xenia, UK.
2022 - LOUIS200 / Louis Vuitton - 660 Madison Ave / New York City, USA.
2022 - Sarabande VIP dinner / The Standard Miami / Miami Art Basel / Miami, USA.
2022 - Lost In The Mirror / Co Atto / Milan, Italy.
2022 - Life In A Digital Age / OOW / Berlin, Germany.
2022 - Sarabande X Dom Perignon party / Sarabande Tottenham / London, UK.
2022 - Hooked / VO Curations / London, UK.
2021 - Served Group Show / Sarabande Foundation / London., UK
2021 - LV200 / Celebrating 200 years of Louis Vuitton / International.
2021 - Urvanity Art / Madrid, Spain.
2020 - House of Bandits / Burberry Mayfair / London, UK.
2020 - Plinch / Bridges&Brows / London, UK.
2020 - ING Discerning Eye exhibition / London, UK.
2020 - Visions in the Nunnery / UK.
2020 - Elysium Online International Film week / Canada.
2020 - 24 Hour IF Improv Festival / Canada.
2019 - Welcome to London / Adidas Flagship x Creative Debuts / London, UK.
2018 - Crxss Platfxrm / Copeland Gallery / London, UK.
2018 - Arts Work of the Future / Tate Exchange, Tate Modern / London, UK.
2018 - Uniqlo Late Tate / Tate Modern / London, UK.
2018 - FBA Futures / Mall Galleries / London, UK.
2017 - FLOCK / GXGallery / London, UK.
Residencies:
2022 - Xenia Residency / Basingstoke, UK.
2020 - Sarabande Residency / Alexander McQueen Foundation / London, UK.
2020 - Makerversity Under 25 Residency / Somerset House / London, UK.
Press:
Publications:
2026 - Sculture Vol. 3.
2025 - The New Order Magazine Issue #3 : CLOSER.
2024 - Langford's Basic Photography: The Guide for Serious Photographers / Focal Press.
2023 - Sublime Synthesis / Xenia Creative Retreat.