He was jailed in 1997 for painting a green '$' sign on Kazimir Malevich's Suprematisme 1920-1927. In the court case Brener said in his defense: "The cross is a symbol of suffering, the $ 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 Malewitz"