In her work, Janaina Tschäpe gives form to the relationship between the body and matter, in paintings, drawings, performances and photography. Currently the core of her research, the artist’s abstract canvases have a liquid appearance that recalls plant, animal or mineral contours in wild and underwater landscapes. The aquatic atmosphere also appears in photographic images. Portraying the sea, rivers and lakes, Tschäpe seeks to replicate processes of metamorphosis and mutation present in nature, just as many of her performances address physical transformation. Her repertoire of organic forms also composes the large surfaces of her paintings, animated by gestural movement: the quick lines that the artist traces with oil sticks overlap the fluidity of broader brushstrokes. The natural world is not faithfully represented in Tschäpe’s work, but its vital dynamics are translated into pictorial terms, involving the public in a restless ambiance.
Her recent exhibitions include a sky filled with clouds and the smell of blood oranges, Sean Kelly, Nova York, USA (2024); Soy mi proprio paisaje, CAC Málaga, Málaga, Spain (2023); Restless Moraine, Sean Kelly, New York, USA (2023); FIRE just sparkles in the sky, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel | Carpintaria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2022); Janaina Tschäpe and Ursula Reuter Christiansen: Das Unheimliche, Den Frie Center of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark (2021) and Counterpoint 5, Musée de la Orangerie, Paris, France (2020). She has also taken part in the relevant group shows Terraphilia: Beyond the Human in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collections, Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid, Spain (2025); Uncanny, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC, USA (2025); The Brooklyn Artists’ Exhibition, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA (2024); How did you come into the world?, Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art, Yoshinocho, Japan (2024); Earth Works, Hunt Gallery, Webster University, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (2021) and Abundant Futures, TBA21, Cordoba, Spain (2021).
The artist’s works have been included in important public collections, such as The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA; Centre Pompidou and Kandinsky Library Collection (Centre Pompidou), Paris, France; National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA; Museu Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Harvard Art Museum, Boston, USA; Inhotim, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, Brazil; MAM – Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil; SMAK – Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gent, Belgium; Mudam Musée d’Art Moderne Grand Duc Jean, Luxembourg; TBA21 – Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, Austria; 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan; Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris, France; Fondation Belgacom, Brussels, Belgium; FRAC Champagne-Ardennes, Reims, France; Banco Espírito Santo, Lisbon, Portugal; Clifford Chance Collection, New York, USA; Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, USA; and Tokyo Roki Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan.
