Wide-eyed, open

Anna Stahn has created four photogravures for her 2023 solo exhibition Wide-eyed, open in Politikens Forhal, Copenhagen. The text-based print Liste (List), could be an inventory of the exhibition’s imagery, or a cryptic poem listing characters and situations Stahn has encountered, as part of her ongoing investigation into the notion of the naïve in contemporary society.
The characters in Stahn’s universe appear carefree and removed from the problems of contemporary life. They carry drinks, tennis rackets or shopping bags like props. The prints Almindelig ikon (Ordinary icon) and Vinder (Winner) are depictions of contemporary female stereotypes: busy, competitive, urban women engaged in an exuberant, never-ending consumerist act. At the same time, she denies them fully executed, individual faces – they are anonymous representatives of contemporary society with its naïve clichés rather than individuals making independent choices.
In this context, Anna Stahn’s seemingly naïve aesthetics could be considered part of an overall artistic strategy. She transfers the child-like, free expression of her drawings into prints that emanate the very naivety she is commenting on. This becomes especially apparent in printmaking, a time-consuming practice which demands focus and planning, and in which every act of alleged spontaneity is carefully premeditated. Stahn’s deliberately imperfect gesture can be seen as an artistic counter strateg to the naïve perfection ideals of the present day.