British artist Anj Smith unveils her latest body of work in the exhibition ‘If Not, Winter’ at Hauser & Wirth’s Zurich gallery. The process has not been easy; most of her recent paintings were created while recovering from a period of chronic anxiety.
Talking of the persistent taboo around mental health in society, Smith says, ‘I’m not remotely embarrassed about talking about mental health, or recognising that this experience fed into the work to some degree. If acknowledging what happened to me normalises this common horror and reduces any residual taboo, then I’m glad.’
In her paintings, Smith navigates her personal experience of anxiety, using earthy tones of oil paint on linen. Phantasmagorical figures with their backs turned to the viewer meet landscapes littered with symbolic objects. There’s a sense of fragility, but also freedom. Their incomplete narratives are dreamlike, sensual and distant—an atmosphere that has become Smith’s trademark.
Installation view of ‘If Not, Winter’ by Anj Smith at Hauser & Wirth, Zurich. © Anj Smith. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
‘And the fact that her muses were women was also deliberately misrepresented by male historians to fit a heteronormative agenda,’ she adds. ‘For me, her work became a springboard from which to think about the manipulated asymmetry of the cannon.’
This might be Smith’s most personal show yet, but her paintings aren’t only autobiographical: ‘Among other things, the micro personal experience of anxiety opens out to address a macro sense of communal unease.’
Portrait of a Boy in Glass II (detail), 2016 – 2017, by Anj Smith, oil on linen. © Anj Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Portrait of a Boy in Glass II, 2016 – 2017, by Anj Smith, oil on linen. © Anj Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Taste (detail), 2017, by Anj Smith, oil on linen. © Anj Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth
S.O.S, 2016 – 2017, by Anj Smith, oil on linen. © Anj Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Opera Aperta, 2017 – 2018, by Anj Smith, oil on linen. © Anj Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Excretia (In Varying Forms), 2016 – 2017, by Anj Smith, oil on linen. © Anj Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Night Haul (detail), 2017 – 2018, by Anj Smith, copper etching with aquatint on Somerset paper, with watercolour, pencil, ink. © Anj Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth.
INFORMATION
‘If Not, Winter’ is on view until 19 May. For more information, visit the Hauser & Wirth website
ADDRESS
Hauser & Wirth
Limmatstrasse 270
Zurich 8005
-
‘Water is coming for the city, how do we live with that?’ asks TBA21 in VeniceArt advocacy and activism platform TBA21's Venetian project, Ocean Space, addresses the climate issues the city is facing
-
In Shanghai, Hermès conjures a ‘cosmopolitan explorer’ for its one-off show on the Huangpu RiverNadège Vanhée, artistic director of Hermès’ womenswear collections, presented ‘The Second Chapter’ of her A/W 2025 collection earlier this evening (13 June 2025) against the futuristic skyline of Shanghai
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt was a jam-packed week for the Wallpaper* staff, entailing furniture, tech and music launches and lots of good food – from afternoon tea to omakase
-
Kaari Upson’s unsettling, grotesque and seductive world in DenmarkThe Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark is staging the first comprehensive survey of late artist Kaari Upson’s work
-
Inside the brilliant and short career of Paul Thek: 'The goal was to live a creative existence as a maker – and he lived in a saint-like fashion'Paul Thek's paintings are now viewable at Thomas Dane Gallery in London, in an exhibition curated by Kenny Schacter and Jonathan Anderson.
-
Lubaina Himid and Magda Stawarska’s new show at Kettle’s Yard will uncover the missing narratives in everyday life storiesThe artists and partners in life are collaborating on an immersive takeover of Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, in an exhibition that delves into a lost literary legacy
-
See the fruits of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely's creative and romantic union at Hauser & Wirth SomersetAn intimate exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Somerset explores three decades of a creative partnership
-
Cassi Namoda is rethinking stained-glass windows at Turner Contemporary in MargateThe artist drew from an eclectic range of references when considering the traditional medium for a Turner Contemporary window overlooking the beach – she tells us more
-
Artist Zumba Luzamba on the vibrant aesthetic of Congolese fashion rebels, the sapeursThe Congolese artist takes a deep dive into a fashion subculture in his show at London's Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery. ‘I draw people in with style so that they can sit with deeper themes,’ he says
-
‘The work is an extension of myself’: Michaela Yearwood-Dan on her debut show at Hauser & WirthLondon-based artist Michaela Yearwood-Dan continues her rapid rise, unveiling monumental new paintings in ‘No Time for Despair’
-
The largest posthumous survey of Helen Frankenthaler puts her in the frame with Pollock and RothkoGuggenheim Bilbao hosts 'Painting Without Rules', a major exhibition of soak-stain innovator Helen Frankenthaler’s paintings that also includes Pollock and Rothko
