Artist Statement

Frahn Koerner’s recent artwork has been described as "addressing resilience… resonating with current events." A London based online magazine recently used an image of hers for an environmental article about “greenwashing.”

 

Though personal in conception [for example in 1969 her European grandmother and grandfather, a former ship captain, were killed in Hurricane Camille] Koerner's artwork addresses universal themes. There’s been a lot of extremes going on in our world lately. Emotional responses to these events reverberate throughout Koerner's artwork. Both “Tues April 28” and “35 new cases in NOLA” address the COVID19 pandemic, and the multitude of feelings in reaction to it. Do we stand in place, cover our mouths, turn away... what are we to do? “2021, Untitled for Now” was done at the start of 2021 when everyone was hoping for a better year than 2020, but we weren't quite sure yet how things would be. The figure has painted pink toenails, a hopeful sign. The painting “Unwavering Fervor” shows a figure surrounded by fiery color… possibly a response to abundant global wildfires, police brutality and/or recent gun violence… is she breathing out fire, like a dragon? If the viewer takes a closer look at the image, words can be seen. These phrases could create a talisman or an “Unwavering Fervor” to help one pass with grace and inner strength though these difficult times. Maybe she is breathing fire after all!  “Before the Dawn,” portrays a woman traipsing through rising water while linear images seem to surround her… are they nets, a new unnamed virus due to Environmental Trauma, benevolent spirits… or is this painting acknowledging the existential threat of living in an area menaced by hurricanes and rising water?  The title is upbeat after all, so… fingers crossed.

 

Koerner’s artwork employs both a camera and computer as fundamental creative tools.

Please see pages 2-3 for images referenced in the above artist statement.

 

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Artist Bio

Frahn [Francesca] Koerner, a native New Orleanian has been making art since she was a child. Koerner holds a BFA from Tulane University and an MFA from the University of New Orleans: majoring in painting with a minor in photography. She has taught at Tulane University and the University of New Orleans.

In 2022, Koerner was included in the Ogden Museum’s LAC2022, curated by Valerie Cassel Oliver, the Meridian Museum of Art’s 48th Annual Bi-State Competition and the Carroll Gallery in the Newcomb Art Department of Tulane University. In 2021 she was interviewed live in her studio and recorded for the Contemporary Arts Center’s StudioV program. At Tulane University’s Women Making Waves Koerner gave a slide show of her work speaking on "Artistic Expressions of Resiliency.” Her work has been included in exhibitions at the Arthur Roger Gallery, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans Museum of Art, Tulane University Carroll Gallery, Loyola University’s Diboll Art Gallery, and Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette, Louisiana; the Mobile Museum of Art and Space 301 in Mobile, Alabama; the Wiregrass Museum of Art in Dothan, Alabama; the Lamar University Dishman Gallery in Beaumont, Texas, the Montgomery College Rockville Gallery in Rockville, Maryland; the Biennale Internazionale Dell’ Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy and the Galerie Im Andechshof in Innsbruck, Austria among others.

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Koerner’s work is in the permanent collection of the Historic New Orleans Collection and the Arts Council of New Orleans. Koerner was an artist-in-residence at the Santa Fe Art Institute and Louisiana ArtWorks. Frahn Koerner Studios was chosen as a Satellite Project for International Art Triennial Prospect.2 and Prospect.3+ New Orleans. Koerner’s artwork is collected and shown throughout the USA and Europe. It can be seen online at www.frahnkoerner.com