Emily Kraus

View works. Emily Kraus
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To capture time in an image calls to mind the speed, directionality, and focal point of our perceived reality. Emily Kraus’ paintings propose the coexistence of linear and cyclical temporalities. Informed by meditative, yogic, and somatic practices, her creative process oscillates between spontaneous mark-making and periods of meditative reflection. Kraus’ paintings vibrate with an underlying rhythm, echoed in the steady cadence of vertical lines that structure the space—akin to a metronome's unwavering beat. The orderly foundation serves as a counterpoint to the wild, unfettered sprawl of colour across the canvas. In this dynamic interplay, the works come alive with the energy of their genesis: expanding and contracting, they contain multiple echoes of their own creation. 
 
The artist developed her unique process in response to a confined studio space at the Royal College of Art in London while exploring themes around action, containment, meditation and freedom. She engineered a cube-like structure using struts that function as rollers, around which she looped raw canvas. As she applies paint by hand and pulls the canvas around the constructed room, the structure smears, spreads, and unfolds the paint, forming patterns that repeat but continually evolve. Over time and many layers, Kraus builds meaning through her mark-making which often exhibits organic qualities resembling the repetitive–yet never quite identical–motifs found in nature. This pattern-like iconography recalls the sinuous texture of snakeskin, a network of veins, or the fluctuations of an electrocardiogram as it records the electrical signals of a heartbeat. From afar, one might even recognise the warping frequencies and rhythms of a musical score. The structure simultaneously functions as a habitation for the artist while she works and the tool for application of paint. To create an organic image within a rigid system requires listening, attention and choreography of movement.
 
Kraus once referred to her work as 'stochastic' because of the seemingly random distributions in her process. Recently, she has reached a pivotal juncture in her practice in which she channels her understanding of these unpredictable elements to shape more deliberate movements within the work. The resulting paintings display a strange harmony of form. This balance is echoed in her relationship with her mechanism during the creative process: a delicate interplay of structure and intuition, control and surrender. In navigating this tension, Kraus cannot fully submit to either, as it is within this balance that the organic essence of her work is realised.
 

Emily Kraus (b. 1995, New York City, USA lives and works in London, UK). In 2017, she received a BA in Religious Studies from Kenyon College, and in 2022 she received an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art. Selected solo exhibitions include: In Relation, Luhring Augustine, New York City, USA, 2026; Dare Tempo Al Tempo, Matta, Milan, Italy, 2024; Frieze, The Sunday Painter, London, UK, 2024; 444 Days, Fondazione Bonollo, Thiene, Italy, 2024; Ouroboros, Galería Mascota, Mexico City, Mexico, 2024; A man and a woman and a blackbird, Galleri Opdahl, Stavanger, Norway, 2024; Nest Time, The Sunday Painter, London, UK, 2023. Selected group exhibitions include: Art Basel, Luhring Augustine, Miami, USA, 2025; VERTIGO, Villa Carmignac, Porquerolles Island, France, 2025; Patterns, Luhring Augustine, New York, USA, 2024; Double Take, LVH, London, UK, 2024; Painting As It Were (Painting As Is III), Kadel Willborn, Dusseldorf, Germany, 2024; Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Camden Arts Center, London, UK, 2024; Nine Rules of Tremulation, Noname, Paris, 2024; Echoes Across Surfaces, Duarte Sequeira HQ, Braga, Portugal, 2023; The Amber Room, Matt’s Gallery, London, UK, 2023; My Mother was a Computer, Indigo+Madder, London, UK 2022. In 2023, Kraus won the Hopper Prize and was shortlisted for the John Moores Painting Prize.

 

 

Selected Press

2026

Frieze, Emily Kraus’s Glitchy Paintings Challenge Aesthetic Authority

New York Times, Art Gallery Shows to See in May

Airmail, Emily Kraus: In Relation,

New York Art Tours, Emily Kraus ‘In Relation’ at Luhring Augustine Gallery

BOMB, Emily Kraus by Andrew Woolbright

 

2024

Artsy, 10 Rising British Artists to Watch at This Year’s “New Contemporaries”,

Stavanger Aftenblad, Kunstneren i esken, maleriet i maskinen

design milk, 2 Must-See Group Exhibitions in New York City Galleries Now

Frieze, Cultural Capital: London-based Artists at Frieze London 2024

FAD Magazine, Paul’s Fairs: Stories of Frieze London

Artsy, The Artsy Vanguard 2025: Emily Kraus

Plus Magazine, Emily Kraus: The Human Element

Galerie Magazine, 8 Standout Artworks to Discover at Art Basel Miami Beach

 

2023

Made In Bed Magazine, Nest Time  @ The Sunday Painter

Studio International, The Mixed Reputation of Photorealism 

Frieze, The Best Shows at London Gallery Weekend

The Hopper Prize, Emily Kraus on finding freedom within confinement, responding to isolation, and working toward a major upcoming exhibition