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).

Nagori, 06.06 – 09.08.25
SOIL curated by Milena Høgsberg, 08.04 – 28.05.22

Born 1985 in Odense, Denmark
Lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark

Education

2010 - 2016

Studied painting at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and at the Funen Art Academy

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2025

Emily Gernild // Sonja Ferlov Mancoba, Vigeland Museum, Norway
Nagori, OSL contemporary, Norway

2024

Beyond Ideas, Studio 4 Berlin, Germany

2023

Emily Gernild, Gl. Holtegaard, Denmark (upcoming)

2022

2022

2022

Never Too Good to Be True, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Denmark
SOIL, OSL contemporary, Norway

2021

During Dusk, M100, Denmark
Black Lemons, Schwarz Contemporary, Germany

2020

Domestic Landscapes, Galleri Kant, Denmark

2019

Before and After, The House for Art and Design, Denmark
Upåagtet – Emily Gernild & Christine Swane, Rønnebæksholm, Denmark

2018

Moveable Feast, Schwarz Contemporary, Germany
Coquettish, Galleri Kant, Denmark

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025

Koloristerne, Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, Denmark

2024

Kolossal, Kastrupgårdsamlingen, Denmark

2023

Green Dreams, Kunstbygningen Filosoffen, Denmark

2022

Food Galore – in Baroque and Contemporary Art, Gl. Holtegaard, Denmark
The Sisters of Cassandra, Rundetaarn, Denmark

2021

Flowers in Art, Arken Museum for Modern Art, Denmark
Vokseværk, Kastrupgårdsamlingen, Denmark
Leftovers and other Squeezed Lemons, Gammelgaard Art and Culture, Denmark
After Images, Janus Vestjyllands Kunstmuseum, Denmark

2020

Seniornotes – in a Covid Era, Trapholt Museum of Modern Art, Denmark

Public collections

Canica Art Collection, Norway
Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfond), Denmark
Trapholt Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
Kastrupgårdsamlingen, Denmark

Public art commissions

Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Denmark
The Maritime and Commercial High Court, Denmark
Holbæk Art, Denmark
Årets Harald, Royal Copenhagen and the University of Copenhagen

Awards

Honorary Grant, Niels Wessel Bagge Art Foundation

Bibliography

2021

Emily Gernild: Black Lemons, Milena Høgsberg, Kerber Verlag

2019

Upåagtet – Emily Gernild & Christine Swane, Vibeke Kelding Hansen, Public