André Hemer (b. 1981, New Zealand) is a painter whose work investigates the bounds of materiality and appearances, and what it means to create paintings during a time in history in which the experience of an object is continuously blurred between states of physical and digital experiences.
Hemer scans physical objects – three-dimensional paint forms or found objects such as flora – en plein air to capture a version of the object, and its surrounding exposure to the natural elements of the sun, sky and lights from the scanner. Most of his recent works are captured across evenings in Vienna (where the artist is currently based) during sunset, where the shift in sunlight conditions are most striking. The resulting images are of vibrant reds, gold, and orange, which are then recomposed, overpainted, and overlaid with three-dimensional sculptural elements to create works that render seamless the demarcation between digital, painted object and the digital artefact.
Hemer holds a PhD in Painting from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney (Australia) and a MA from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), including a Postgraduate Research Residency at the Royal College of Art, London (UK).
He has exhibited widely in New Zealand, Australia, USA and internationally. Curated exhibitions include NFTism, curated by Kenny Schachter, Institut Co (2021); Watching Windows, curated by Andrew Clifford, Te Uru Contemporary Museum, Auckland (2017); André Hemer – Paintings 2005- 2015, Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua City, New Zealand (2015); Utopian Days, curated by Martin Schulze and Hailey Grenet, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea (2014); and Critical Intent, curated by Gary Sangster and Fan Lin, Guangzhou Art Center, Guangzhou, China (2014).
His work is in the collections of Taiwan Museum of Art; Te Manawa Museum (New Zealand); Christchurch Art Gallery (New Zealand); and University of Canterbury (New Zealand), amongst others. In 2016 Hemer was awarded the prestigious New Paramount Award from the Wallace Arts Trust and the New Zealand Arts Foundation New Generation Award. Artist residencies include: The Studios at MASS MoCA, Massachusetts, USA (2020); International Studio and Curatorial Program, New York, USA (2017), Cité International des Arts, Paris, France (2015); Arts Tasmania, Hobart, Australia (2015); amongst others. Hemer is currently based in Vienna, Austria.