Ana Karkar

Ana Karkar's paintings have a distant memory of films, not at all virtuous, more haunted than exact. Ana Karkar paints these images of films as they continue to live in us, after their projection, inhabiting the back of our mind: caution, a permanent storm.

— Philippe Azoury, Journalist and Film Critic

Ana Karkar is a French-American artist based in Paris, whose work draws upon influences from the Vienna Secession. In her paintings of nudes, twisted and entwined bodies form a danse macabre reminiscent of Egon Schiele, or are joined in passionate freedom, echoing Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss.

Karkar’s mastery of gesture shines through in her exploration of the interplay between abstraction and figuration, between human and hybrid figures. Her vibrant palette, often framed by striking blues, captures the viewer’s attention. The chiaroscuro in her work evokes scenes reminiscent of cinematography. Her art is deeply influenced by the collective unconscious, particularly experimental horror cinema, which she deftly weaves into her own unique visual language, creating a captivating dialogue.

Recent solo and group exhibitions include Whole Cookie at Almine Rech, London, GB (2024, solo), LOVECHILD at Almine Rech, Brussels, BE (2024, solo), Blackout Romeo at Behind The Door, Paris, FR (2024, group), ART021 Shanghai fair with Galerie Marguo (2023, group), KIAF SEOUL fair with Galerie Marguo (2023, solo) and Box of Earth at Baert Gallery, Los Angeles, US (2023, solo).

Download Artist's CV

Born in San Francisco, United States in 1986
Currently lives and works in Paris, France

EDUCATION

2016	TURPS Art School, London, UK
2010	Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, Arts et Sciences de l'Art, Paris, France
2008	École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris
2004	San Francisco Art Institute, USA

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024	Almine Rech, Whole Cookie, London, UK
2023	Almine Rech, LOVECHILD, Brussels, Belgium
	Galerie Marguo, Kiaf Seoul 2023, Seoul, Korea
	Baert Gallery, Box of Earth, Los Angeles, CA
	Nosbaum Reding, Art Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
	Nosbaum Reding, Villains Vault, Luxembourg
2022	Galerie Marguo, Return From Exile, Paris, France
2019	DZIALDOV, We value your privacy, Berlin, Germany
	Copie Service, Spine to Perform an Exorcism, Paris, France
2018	Le Consulat de la Gaité, Where there’s smoke, Paris, France
2015	Meta-Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Unmanifest Territories, North Miami, FL

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024	Galerie Marguo, Deli Dali, Paris, France
2023	Galerie Marguo, Art021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China
2022	Galerie Marguo, ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China
	Nosbaum Reding, Fundamental Occurrences, Brussels, Belgium
	Minus 1 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2021	N.104 Gallery, Seasons of Nebula, Tokyo, Japan
	ArtParis & Hors Cadre at Grand Palais Ephémère, Portraits et figuration. Regard sur la scène francaise, curated by Hervé Mikaeloff, Paris, France
	König Galerie, MISA Discoveries, Berlin, Germany
	König Galerie, Messe in St Agnes, Berlin, Germany
	Tata bookshop, Iwakan 2, Tokyo, Japan
	Horscadre, Intimations, Paris, France
2020	Nosbaum Reding, Brussels Galerie Ephémère, Brussels, Belgium
2019	Nosbaum Reding, Just So Stories, Luxembourg
	Galerie PCP, Café Spit, Paris, France
2018	SFMOMA, Submission Friday, online
	Laundry Artspace, Colourful Chaos by FluxKUNST, Brisbane, Australia
2017	DZIALDOV, L'homme Sauvage, Berlin, Germany
	Andrew Edlin Gallery, Et Tu, Art Brute?, New York, NY
	La Galerie 36 rue Notre Dame de Nazareth, Night School, Paris, France
	Zaratan Arte Contemporânea, BYOB_Lx, Lisbon, Portugal
	DZIALDOV, …why not hug the strangers., Berlin, Germany
2016	SFMOMA, Submission Friday, online
	Turps Correspond, The Artworks, Halifax, UK
	IR11, Edinburgh, UK
	Londonewcastle Project Space, London, UK
2015	DZIALDOV, Malfunction, Berlin, Germany
	Glasgow Openhouse, Cold on the Outside, Glasgow, UK
	Passage Choiseul, FTO #2, Paris, France
	Assembly House, Figure This Out, Leeds, UK
2014	Turps Painting Studio, Correspond, London, UK
	DZIALDOV, Re-Boot, Berlin, Germany
2012	Galerie Christian Berst, Surf Your Mind, Paris, France
2010	Centre Commerciale Sans Commerce, CHIC Art Fair, Cité de la Mode et du Design, Paris, France
	Centre Culturel Auguste Dobel, Chez Jack, Paris, France
2009	« La Petite Ceinture » 75020, Chemins de Fer, Paris, France
2008	Centre Saint Charles, Untitled, Paris, France
2006	Carrousel du Louvre, I V Y Paris, Paris, France

COLLECTIONS

He Art Museum, Foshan, China

Zhi Art Museum, Chengdu, China

Longlati Foundation, Shanghai, China

Yageo Foundation, Taiwan

Ståhl Collection, Sweden

GRANTS / RESIDENCIES

2014	Atelier Austmarka Artist in Residence Grant, Norway

Ana Karkar, Return From Exile - Experimental film

Paris Exhibition Artist Film

6 Oct 2022

Galerie Marguo is pleased to present Return From Exile , a suite of new works by French-American artist Ana Karkar. On view from 15 October to 19 November 2022, this marks the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery on the occasion of the first edition of Paris+ by Art Basel. Comprising 13 canvases ranging from intimate to monumental scales, the melting and distorted figures painted within are largely inspired by cult films like the Italian giallos of the 1970s (Suspiria) and Brian de Palma's deliberately outrageous, garish films (Carrie),...

Ana Karkar San Francisco, CA, b. 1986

Ana Karkar, Return From Exile - Experimental film

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