ANNA CAMNER

About

Anna Camner is a consummate example of an artist who cannot be restricted according to contemporary matrices. The natural scientific aesthetic used, combined with the mastery of her one medium of choice (oil on acrylic sheet), results in poetic, fragmentary perspectives of the psyche, whose presence is almost audible.

Governed by a general surrealist feeling, her distinctive painterly practice lies at the gentle intersection between figuration and abstraction. Underlying throughout the oeuvre is a desire to free oneself, allowing the subconscious priority in decision-making.

Camner is presently developing a series called ‘Synthetopia’, consisting of identically-sized paintings (100x120cm), in which synthetic and semi-synthetic materials – such as polymers and polyvinyl resins – represent the interplay between notions of humanity, manufactured materials, and perception of identity. The surrealistic qualities of materials (latex, PVC) blur the boundaries that define what it means to be human through their shiny, almost otherworldly appearance. As such, these perfectly glossy, synthetic substances serve simultaneously as protectors and restrainers, while granting dominance over the human body. In the pursuit of precision and control, differentiations between the human and the synthetic turn hazy.

Anna Camner (b. 1977) lives and works in Stockholm. Since graduating from the Royal Institute of Art (Stockholm) in 2003, her work has been exhibited extensively in solo shows in Stockholm, London, and New York, along with group exhibitions like a solo presentation at the Armory Show (Galerie Forsblom 2020), The International Biennial of Contemporary Art (BIACI) in Cartagena, Colombia (2014), and Mumbai, India (2019). She was also awarded the prestigious Beckers Art Award in 2017, leading to an exhibition at Färgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden. Her work is currently shown in the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan, and will be exhibited in the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan in January 2024. Camner is featured in collections including UBS, Magasin III, and Malmö Konstmuseum.

For more info visit annacamner.com