In Janet Werner’s paintings location and physical exaggeration of the figure have become more significant as scenery and amplified characters are dropped or transplanted into the impossible visual plethora of 20 and 21st century visual pop culture. Werner has a specific idea of how she wants her paintings to be construed and how figures dwell in them. She continues to fictionalize time, place and memory as her subjects are invented, adapted and localized in these new contexts and the drama that Werner has created. This pro-active characterization and no holds barred approach to painting is fueled by her individual research and pursuit of pushing a relationship and commitment to the portrait-painting genre.

 

Janet Werner was born in Winnipeg and lives and works in Montreal. She received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and her MFA from Yale University, New Haven, CT. Werner has shown widely in Canada including solo shows at the Art Gallery of Windsor, SBC  Gallery, Montreal, The Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, The Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, The Ottawa Art Gallery and Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg. Recent group exhibitions include Generation at the Art Gallery of Alberta, Intrus/Intruders, at Musée du Québec and Entre/Voir, at Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal. Internationally, her work was presented at the Prague Bienale and will be featured in the upcoming survey exhibition Oh, Canada at MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA. Werner’s work is in the collections of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Musée du Québec, The Owens Art Gallery, Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, The Mendel Art Gallery, The Winnipeg Art Gallery and numerous corporate collections.