Chiara Smirne (1980, Italy) is a contemporary painter best known for her surreal urban landscapes and interiors, characterized by a dreamlike atmosphere that evokes mystery and unease. Smirne primarily works with acrylic and oil painting, employing a personalized color palette and deliberately exaggerated or distorted colors to create a sense of estrangement. Her figurative style incorporates abstract and geometric elements, contributes to maintaining a visual tension between reality and abstraction.
Smirne's works explore the complex dynamics of contemporary human existence. Her urban landscapes depict an exaggerated sense of normalcy, highlighting the discomfort and alienation experienced by individuals in modern urban environments. Human presence in her works, sometimes eerie or fleeting, underscores the individual's maladjustment. Through an existentialist lens, Smirne emphasizes the sense of disorientation, the search for meaning, and the inner turmoil that characterize human condition. Particular interest and curiosity have been sparked by Smirne's works, which often depict human figures in disproportionate sizes compared to their surroundings, often seen behind windows or apertures in an urban context. Examples include the multi-award-winning piece "Clinic" (2013), selected for a virtual exhibition by the Saatchi Gallery in London, and "In a Different Place" (2015), a finalist in several contemporary art competitions, including the “Premio Gambino” (2015), where it garnered attention from the prestigious Galleria Luce in Venice.
Chiara Smirne has participated in numerous important art contests and has been recognized for her contributions to the contemporary art world. Additionally, her works have been showcased at esteemed venues such as Galleria Cortina in Milan, Italy; Galerie Kuhn & Partner in Berlin, Germany; Chiostro Madonna dell'Orto in Venice, Italy; Palazzo delle Stelline in Milan, Italy; and Casa Internazionale delle donne in Rome, Italy. Smirne's artworks have been collected by various private national and international collections, attesting to her growing recognition within the contemporary art scene.
