This project is co-published in collaboration with Morgann Trumbull Projects.
For 25 years Anna Kunz has been creating vibrant paintings that utilize color, improvisation, movement, and chance to generate a “compassionate geometry”. Favoring a disruption of material boundaries, Kunz employs a variety of surfaces in her paintings such as canvas, paper, silk and other fabrics. Kunz’s artworks function like nets to capture and manipulate light, altering the exhibition space by creating a vibrationally charged, immersive experience for the viewer. Kunz's work has been featured in numerous esteemed national and international collections, with exhibitions held in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, New York, Madrid, and Poland.
Anna Kunz (b. 1960, Cleveland, OH) lives and works in Chicago, IL and the Woods of Southwest Michigan
“During this time, we created monotypes, limited edition prints, and three edition variée—hybrids of etching and monotype. The guidance of master printers Courtney Sennish and Nichol Markowitz enabled me to experiment with fragile yet strong gampi and washi papers. Their expertise in intaglio and monotype processes, along with special Japanese mounting and chine collé techniques, fostered a seamless rhythm at the press. This fluidity allowed me to transition effortlessly between different techniques as we crafted works simultaneously.”
Anna Kunz
Artworks
Moonflowers, 2024
Finch, 2024
Spiral Variée: Sky Blue, 2024
Spiral Variée: Prism, 2024
Aurora Blue, 2024
Artist Bio
Anna Kunz makes works on paper, paintings, sculptures, installations, and projects that seep out of the rectangle, often using painted and dyed fabrics that function like nets to capture and manipulate light and color. Her experiential works are often combined with objects or surfaces that add complexity and invite viewers to structure the space in time by passing through them. Kunz’s work has been included in numerous national and international collections. She has had exhibitions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, New York, Madrid, and Poland.
She has worked collaboratively with architects, dancers, and musicians to create décor for theatrical and dance productions, namely for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and The Seldoms Dance Co. Other collaborators include those with choreographer Benji Ninja and Family Voguers, and the Performance Collective, “Industry of the Ordinary” for a retrospective at the Chicago Cultural Center. A commissioned, suspended work hangs in a new building at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC, designed by Helmut Jahn, alongside work by Alice Aycock and Chris Wood. Other large-scale commissioned work includes a 7 piece painting as part of the William P Clements Junior collection at South West Texas University Medical Center’s collection in the new Radiology Oncology wing. Future collaborations will feature Kunz’ paintings as textiles for Designer Nina Arias, NYC.
Kunz has served as a curatorial advisor and creative partner for several private organizations and artists. In 2010, she curated a large, international, outdoor exhibition called “Nature Unframed” for the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL. She has operated a “pure platform,” nomadic, exhibition space called “Kunz, Vis Projects,” periodically with artist Niels Vis of Amsterdam and Rosalinda Gonzalez of New York from her garage in Chicago. The platform invited artists of all career levels to present fresh work alongside each other, suggesting a disruption of career categorization and invited new perspectives. She is a founding member of the Chicago chapter of “Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery” (TSA) and served as co-director with Michelle Wasson from 2016-2018.
Anna Kunz has been honored with nominations from 3Arts, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Emerging Artist award from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Artadia Chicago, and Rema Hort-Mann Foundation's Individual Artists Grant, and The Joan Mitchell Foundation in 2020. Recently, she was nominated by Anonymous Was a Woman.
Kunz participated as an artist-in-residence in the Marie Walsh Sharpe Studio Program, the Edward Albee Foundation, and the Adele and Sam Golden Foundation in New York. She is represented by Alexander Berggruen, New York, Berggruen, San Francisco, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, Galleri Urbane, Dallas, and is associated with Library Street Collective, Detroit. Kunz is currently an artist-in-residence at the Monira Foundation in Mana Contemporary, Jersey City from March 2024 to 2025. Anna lives and works in New York and Chicago.
More information about Anna can be found on her website: https://www.annakunz.net/