Anna Camner

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.

Contemplation of an alternate reality emerges, where societal norms and surface attributes dissipate, granting freedom to follow one’s deepest desires. A satin pink layer veils the superficial aspects of identity, permitting the core of being, the true essence, to ascend. The yearning for integration with the synthetic opens towards a future where the definition of what it means to be human is no longer clear, where the line between the organic and the artificial grow increasingly ambiguous.

From a technical perspective, Camner’s alla prima method has remained consistent over the past twenty-five years – allowing for a refinement of her pictorial vocabulary, while delving into the distillation of her personal artistic identity. By using wet-on-wet paint – without allowing adjacent parts to dry - Camner is pushed in a race against time, requiring careful pre-planning of each segment. The technical challenges and the inherent difficulty of this method allow the artist to enter a trance-like state of mind, releasing control over decision-making, while concomitantly allowing the subconscious to take a more prominent role.

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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, alongside numerous group exhibitions, including an extensive 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 the recipient of the prestigious Beckers Art Award in 2017, leading to an exhibition at Färgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden. Her work is currently shown in Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan and will be exhibited at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan in January 2024. 
Camner is the founder of Black Iris, a not-for-profit art platform, through which she curates exhibitions in unexpected locations , which would not typically be accessible to the general public.

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