Emily Gernild

Emily Gernild (b. 1985) is a painter based in Copenhagen. She received her formal training at the Funen Art Academy and the Düsseldorf Art Academy, earning an MA in 2016. Gernild’s practice is characterised by assertive, textured, and chromatically rich paintings that engage with motifs drawn from dream imagery, idiomatic expressions, and conventions of historical still life. Her work interrogates and expands upon these sources, seeking to extract new meaning from established visual tropes. Applying both oil paint and rabbit-skin glue mixed with pigment, Gernild explores the dynamic interplay between figure and ground, utilising these materials to investigate different approaches to painting. Gernild has presented several solo exhibitions including Emily Gernild // Sonja Ferlov Mancoba at the Vigeland Museum, Norway (2025); Beyond Ideas at Studio 4 Berlin, Germany (2024); and Aunts and Dolls at Gl. Holtegaard, Denmark (2023). Her work has also been featured in group exhibitions such as Koloristerne at Den Frie, Denmark (2025); Kolossal at Kastrupgårdsamlingen, Denmark (2024); Flowers in Art at Arken Museum for Modern Art, Denmark (2021); Leftovers and Other Squeezed Lemons at Gammelgaard Art and Culture, Denmark (2021); and After Images at Janus Vestjyllands Kunstmuseum, Denmark (2021). Her paintings are held in prominent public collections, including the Canica Art Collection (Norway), the Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfond), Trapholt Museum of Modern Art (Denmark), and Kastrupgårdsamlingen (Denmark). Gernild has also completed public art commissions for the Ministry of Higher Education and Science (Denmark), the Maritime and Commercial High Court (Denmark), Holbæk Art (Denmark).