Anna Nero’s painting practice lies at the intersection of abstraction and figuration. Her dynamic, colorful canvases are marked by geometric forms, playful patterns, and textures that occasionally recall everyday objects. By blending elements from contemporary visual culture with a command of classical techniques, she constructs complex compositions that are both familiar and enigmatic. Her works explore the materiality of painting, challenge surface conventions, and play with the viewer’s expectations. They evoke an artificial, almost theatrical world where pattern becomes language and color, a vibrant energy in motion.
Anna Nero (1988) earned her MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig in 2015, followed by post-graduate studies with professor Heribert C. Ottersbach. Her artwork has been showcased in solo exhibitions in the United States, Germany, and Italy, as well as in numerous group exhibitions worldwide. She is also involved in running the Frankfurt-based project and exhibition space MARS. In 2022, Nero served as a guest professor at the Art Academy Mainz, Germany. Her pieces are featured in private and public collections across Europe and the United States, including notable institutions like G2 Kunsthalle, the Museum of Fine Art Leipzig, and the public art collections of various German cities. She is currently a guest professor at Burg Giebichenstein, in Halle.
Born in 1988 in Moscow, Russia
Lives and works in Frankfurt and Berlin
EDUCATION
2009 Painting –Academy of Fine Arts Mainz, Germany
2012-2015 Painting – MFA, Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, Germany
2015-2017 Postgraduate studies / masterclass of prof. Heribert C. Ottersbach
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
No Tenderness, Marc Bibiloni gallery, Madrid, Spain
2024
Ride or Die, Galerie SheBAM!, Spinnerei Leipzig, Germany
2023
Shallow Purple, Marc Straus gallery, New York, USA
Unspeakable Things, SchierkeSeinecke Gallery, Frankfurt (catalogue), Germany
Do you believe in goats? CCA Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
2022
Slippery Slope, Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig, Germany
Testing into Compliance, Feldbusch Wiesner Rudolph, Berlin, Germany
False Green, plain gallery, Milan, Italy
Obsessions, Long story short, New York, USA
2021
HEAVEN, Rainbow Unicorn Studios, Berlin, Germany
USE, SheBAM! Leipzig, Germany
2020
Res Extensa, SchierkeSeinecke, Frankfurt, Germany
Fingers in many pies, FeldbuschWiesnerRudolph gallery, Berlin, Germany
ERECT, public artwork, Frankfurt, Germany
2019
Shiny, Shiny, She BAM! Spinnerei Leipzig, Germany
Vinegar Tongue, Gallery Oel-Früh, Hamburg, Germany
CONTROL, Artspace Ortloff, Leipzig, Germany
Two Truths, Gallery Kramer, Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Heavy Loop, Gallery Falko Alexander, Köln, Germany
2018
Modus Operandi, Galerie am Rathaus, Eschborn, Germany
Utility Violence, Gallery Oel Früh, Hamburg, Germany
Formula, Kunst- und Kulturstiftung Opelvillen, Rüsselsheim, Germany
2017
Shakin’ and Lightning, Gallery Oel-Früh, Hamburg, Germany
Itemisation, graduation show, Academy of Arts Leipzig, Germany
2016
Solid Cream, 1822-Forum der Frankfurter Sparkasse, Frankfurt (catalogue), Germany
2015
Anna Nero – Contemporary Positions, Gallery Oel-Früh, Hamburg, Germany
HOME CONSTRUCTOR, Master-graduation-show, Academy of Arts Leipzig, Germany
2014
NEVER CLEVER, F14 – Raum für zeitgenössische Kunst, Dresden, Germany
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
Three is a crowd, Oberfinanzdirektion, Frankfurt, Germany
You & Me, Feldbusch Wiesner Rudolph, Berlin, Germany
2024
Once you see the pattern, things fall into place, Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof (with Aldo Freund), Germany
Reality Check, Museum Ahlen, Ahlen, Germany
Butter wouldn’t melt, Heussenstamm-Foundation, Frankfurt (with Aldo Freund), Germany
2023
Lovers in the backseat, FeldbuschWiesnerRudolph, Berlin, Germany
Jahresgaben 23, Kunstverein Reutlingen, Germany
WIN/WIN, new aquisitions of the State of Saxony, Spinnerei Leipzig, Germany
Studio Talks Groupshow, Artco Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Update, Highlights of the collection of the City of Frankfurt, Heussenstamm-Foundation, Germany
This could be us, Mars Frankfurt, Germany
Mars attacks, BcmA, Berlin, Germany
Intertwined Realities, Bricks gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2022
Hyperimage, Kunstverein Ahlen, Germany
Holy Holes, Galerie Oel Früh, Hamburg, Germany
Nominees of the Paula-Modersohn-Becker-artprize, Museum Worpswede, Germany
Vision of Figure, Badr El Jundi Gallery, Spain
Eating a vegan sandwich, Lab21 gallery, Mallorca, Spain
Junge Kunst wagen! 50 Jahre 1822-Forum, KV Familie Montez
MINIBAR II, Galerie Oel Früh, curated by Anna Nero, Hamburg, Germany
Start to finish, TOR Artspace, Frankfurt, Germany
2021
Infrarosa, Galerie Kramer, Bremen, Germany
Kayfuem, Waidspeicher Museum Erfurt (catalougue), Germany
forever & ever, XPINKY, Berlin, Germany
Séance, Rundgaenger gallery, Frankfurt, Germany
JUNG x 5, Plain Gallery, Milan, Italy
Keine Leichte Sehnsucht, Spinnerei, Leipzig, Germany
Lockdown, Womens Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
2020
Now! Young Painting in Germany, Deichtorhallen Hamburg (catalogue)
Frequency, Philipp von Rosen Gallery, Cologne, Germany
Kleine Deutschlandschau, Basis Projectspace, Frankfurt, Germany
So klein wie Möglich, MOM Artspace, Hamburg, Germany
Der Apparat, Frappant artspace, Hamburg, Germany
2019
Now! Young Painting in Germany, Artmuseum Bonn, Germany
Now! Young Painting in Germany, Museum Gunzenhauser, Germany
Now! Young Painting in Germany, Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
Upcoming, Gallery SchierkeSeinecke, Frankfurt, Germany
All in 6, Gallery Falko Alexander, Köln, Germany
RAGE, Gallery Stephanie Kelly, Dresden, Germany
Small Talk, Gallery Kramer, Bremen, Germany
2018
Masters of None, Ausstellung und Art Lab, Myanm/art, Yangon, Myanmar
That’s all right Mama, Raum XXY, Berlin, Germany
30 ziehen durch die Stadt, Mash Up vs Galerie Affenfaust, Hamburg, Germany SILBER, Annual exhibition of Leipzig, Werkschauhalle, Leipzig, Germany
Vor dem Bild ist nach dem Bild, Malerinnen aus Leipzig, KV Aktueller Kunst, Zwickau, Germany
Wir nehmen an, kein Stern sei unbewohnt, Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, Bonn, Germany
RPR Art Lab, AusstellungsHalle 1A, Frankfurt, Germany
FUFF, 934 Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, USA
2017
Kaiser Nero, Anna Nero and Aneta Kajzer, Showme, Art Academy Mainz, Germany
LASTER, Anna Nero and Stephan Jäschke, Bistro 21, Leipzig, Germany
Ausrasterungen, Anna Nero and Peter Müller, Galerie Ampersand, Köln, Germany Mash Up IV, Barlach Halle K, Hamburg, Germany
19 Positionen, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
2016
Handjob, Junction Hall, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Sammlung Simonow – Kunsthalle Bozen, Bolzano, Italy
Pretty and Ambitious, The Tip, Frankfurt, Germany
Material Girls; Anna Nero und Anna Stroh, Galerie Rundgänger, Frankfurt, Germany
AWARDS
2022
nominated for the Paula Modersohn Becker Art Prize
2021
Cultural Found county of Hessen
Cultural Found City of Frankfurt
1700 years of jewish life in Germany / Cultural Ministry of Germany
2020
Stiftung Kunstfonds Fellowship Supported by the cultural fund of the county of Hessen
2019
Stiftung Zurückgeben Fellowship
2012
Art Academy Mainz Award for outstanding artistic achievement
2011 – 2017
Fellowship of the Cusanuswerk
RESIDENCIES
2024
residency at LaBibi gallery, Mallorca, Spain
2023
resident at CCA Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
2018
Residency at cultural center of Opel, Stiftung Opelvillen, Rüsselsheim, Germany
‘Masters of None’, Residency, Art Lab and exhibition in Yangon, Myanmar
Residency in Columbus, Ohio, USA, sponsored by the State of Saxony
2016
Residency and exhibition in Detroit, Michigan, USA
PUBLICATION
2016
‘Solid Cream’, Artist Book, 1822-Forum, Germany
2017
‘19 Positionen’, group-catalogue, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
2018
25. annual exhibition of Leipzig, group-catalogue, Spinnerei Leipzig, Germany
2019
This used to be an art Gallery! Publication about the Art Lab and residency in Yangon, Myanmar. Sponsored by the Waldemar-Koch-Stiftung
Now! Young Painting in Germany, group-catalogue, Hirmer Verlag, Germany
2020
All Things Considered, Monograph, Kerber Publishing House, Germany
2021
CONNECT #2, Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Germany
Kayfuem, Kunstmuseen Erfurt, Germany
2022
Paula-Modersohn-Becker-artprize, Kunstmuseen Worpswede, Germany
2023
NEVER CLEVER, Monograph, published by SchierkeSeinecke, Germany
COLLECTIONS
G2 collection Leipzig, GermanyMuseum of Fine Art Leipzig, Germany
Jewish Museum Frankfurt, Germany
City of Frankfurt public art collection, Germany
VNG Art collection, Germany
Hesse Ministry of Finance, Germany
Public Art collection of the State of Saxony, Germany
Bundekunsthalle (German National Art Collection)
