Anna Zimmermann, Cherrys grow underwater, 2022 acrylic on heavy cotton canvas 170x140cm in sustainable natural solid wood floater frame
Anna Zimmermann, Cherrys grow underwater, 2022 acrylic on heavy cotton canvas 170x140cm in a sustainable natural solid wood floater frame

“If I try to repeat something that I liked for work, it will turn out differently, and become a different process. I understand it as a continuous development.”

Name

Anna Zimmermann

Profession

Painter

Website

annazimmermann.art

Anna Zimmermann, Photo by Marc Krause 2023
Anna Zimmermann, Photo by Marc Krause 2023

Where are you from?

Berlin

Your style in 3 words?

full-of-gesture

Your weakness? Your strength?

I often think too much about external influences, on the other hand, I have a deep confidence in my abilities.

What makes you different?

Time will tell.

Anna Zimmermann, miniature table sculpture, 2022
Anna Zimmermann, miniature table sculpture, 2022
Anna Zimmermann, The Confident Miniature table sculpture, 2020
Anna Zimmermann, The Confident Miniature table sculpture, 2020
Anna Zimmermann, Miniature table sculpture, 2022
Anna Zimmermann, Miniature table sculpture, 2022

When did you decide to become an artist?

It’s something I’ve always done. You could say it’s more of a thirst than a conscious decision.

Do you choose your art form, or does the form choose you?

It’s a natural combination: my hand and the brush or pen. It comes easy to me, it makes me happy and sometimes frustrated, but always in a good way – the way that makes you grow.

What do you find most fascinating about your work?

It changes with each work, and on the other hand it follows the same patterns. If I try to repeat something that I liked for work, it will turn out differently, and become a different process. I understand it as a continuous development.

Anna Zimmermann, Miniature Table Sculpture, 2023, Photo by Marc Krause
Anna Zimmermann, Miniature Table Sculpture, 2023, Photo by Marc Krause
Anna Zimmermann, Taste of Kissing, 2022 acrylic on heavy cotton canvas
Anna Zimmermann, Taste of Kissing, 2022 acrylic on heavy cotton canvas

A few words about your favorite creation?

Last summer I did a series of large paintings in Spain. I painted mostly outdoors, initially trying to keep the wind from whipping my canvas around and blurring my brushstrokes. I painted parts on the ground and knelt on the canvas. I was fighting the wind, and suddenly nature won and my canvas almost flew away, and in the process, the water I had used for the painting tipped all over the fresh paint. After a moment of shock, I realized that this spontaneous moment of outside interference in my work was a factor that made the work much more exciting for me.

What surprised you most about your first art shows?

After a few exhibitions, I have become much more aware of the criticism of my work and I have to work on preserving some of the naive pride I had when I first exhibited. In short, what has surprised me the most is the joy of sharing. That I want my work to be seen.

Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…

Cassi Namoda, Conny Maier, Paula Modersohn – Becker, Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Lotte Laserstein, Chloe Wise and many more. In my art, I am mainly inspired by the art itself. Contemporary or art history.

Anna Zimmermann, Wiener, 2022, 100 × 120 cm oil pastels & acrvl paint
Anna Zimmermann, Wiener, 2022, 100 × 120 cm oil pastels & acrvl paint

Who would you like to work with someday and why?

I would love to collaborate with other artists and show my work in a group show this year. Dream collaborations: I love Almine Rech and the team at Gropius Bau. There are many great galleries and museums. In sum, I would love to collaborate with people who help me grow and who are generous and ambitious with the art and the artist.

A new project coming up or an idea you want to work on?

I started working on a painting inspired by a drawing I made some time ago when I lived in Stockholm. Being on a budget in an expensive city like Stockholm, going out was a luxury, but also an important thing to build a social environment abroad. It’s a somewhat intoxicating subject, and I’m trying to bring that blur of a bar night to the canvas – I’m currently sober because of my pregnancy. So it’s interesting to capture that euphoric moment of losing a bit of control in a really sober state.

Finish the sentence „More important than my career is…“

…to preserve happiness that is independent of everything else.

Anna Zimmermann 2022 Solo Exhibition Arta Edition
Anna Zimmermann 2022 Solo Exhibition Arta Edition
Anna Zimmermann, Pink Sand, 2022, acrylic on heavy cotton canvas, 170 x 140 cm, in sustainable, natural, solid wood floater frame
Anna Zimmermann, Pink Sand, 2022, acrylic on heavy cotton canvas, 170 x 140 cm, in sustainable, natural, solid wood floater frame

2023: Where are we going?

New works, new opportunities, ongoing collaborations, and hopefully many wonderful surprises.

Do you think about time as an artist?

As an artist, I try to heed the mantra that time shouldn’t matter as much as it does in any other industry. There are no seasons. There should only be a pleasant moment when you feel you are done with work and, in the best case, the opportunity to show it.

When the going gets tough…

Take a break and come back again.

Anna Zimmermann, Dinner for her, 2021, oil on canvas, 150,00 x 170,00 cm
Anna Zimmermann, Dinner for her, 2021, oil on canvas, 150,00 x 170,00 cm

Put on your future vision glasses: What direction is our generation moving in, what will our world look like in 50 years?

A renaissance of manual things and personal exchange. My friend Malaika and I have been working together for a while, so we have to send stuff to each other’s studio. We both live and work in Friedrichshain. We started putting little notes or thank you notes on things we send back and forth in the neighborhood. Random little “like” in the real world. So I could see us shrinking our circles again, traveling less for the sake of climate change, and sharing more in person. Or the opposite, we all book travel flat rates and are simultaneously in virtual reality as we walk down the street.

What would you do if you could change the World?

Create equality between all countries; those that suffer from European colonialism and those countries that still enrich themselves at the expense of the climate and poorer countries. Create equality between the sexes everywhere. How would I start? Probably by putting many men who currently hold positions of power in prison.

What does freedom mean when it comes to art?

One factor of freedom, unfortunately, is money. To have the means to buy materials, rent rooms, to invest in oneself. It is liberating not to think too much about the economics and focus on the work.

If the universe is everything and it’s expanding, what is it expanding into?

Into nothing.

Tell us about your future plans…

I would like to continue to exhibit, have international representation, participate in fairs, and participate more in group shows.

Your city’s favorite spots?

Gropius Bau, Books & Bagels, Treptower Park, Rummelsburger Bucht, NBB, Galleria Snow, Weserhalle, Sprüth Magers, Boros Bunker, Nella Beljan Gallery, Staatsballett Berlin – Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Do you read me?!, Lesen und lesen lassen, Bücherbogen at Savignyplatz, Bar Normal, Kottbusser Tor, Kino International, breakfast at Gropius Bau, any museum shop, Auguststraße during Gallery Weekend and a good Späti.

Anna Zimmermann, The Dinner Series 2, 18 x 24cm Sharpie on heavy paper, 2021
Anna Zimmermann, The Dinner Series 2, 18 x 24cm Sharpie on heavy paper, 2021

A book that everyone should read…

The Choice: Embrace the Possible, by Dr. Edith Eva Eger

Last but not least: what is your favorite Song?

Heroes – David Bowie & Grandmaster Flash – The Message

One last statement please: „Wood or stone, gold or art?“

Golden sculptures by Alicja Kwade.

Your #…?

#annazimmermann