Anna Freeman Bentley studied Painting at Chelsea College of Art, Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee and the Royal College of Art. Her paintings use architectural imagery to explore the emotive potential of space and its associations with longing. Grounded in an interest in the baroque her source material has expanded to include junk shops, restaurants, private members clubs, flea markets and design fairs. Central to her work is an investigation into surface, tension and the atmosphere evoked by these different interior surroundings. The spaces depicted are empty yet visual signifiers point to evidence of people and social happenings. Her expressive paintings explore the representation and interpretation of space under different historical and social conditions, changing terms of validation and identity, and shifting aesthetic tastes.
Awards and residencies include: Palazzo Monti Residency, Brescia Italy 2019; The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant 2019 and 2017 and Artist in Restaurant residency at Michelin-starred restaurant Pied a Terre, London 2012. Selected exhibitions (* denotes solo) include DENK Gallery, Los Angeles 2019*, Exclusive, Ahmanson Gallery, Irvine 2018*; Space K, Seoul 2017; 68projects, Berlin 2017; the East London Painting Prize 2014 and 2015; Chamber, Workshop Gallery, Venice 2012*; Some Domestic Incidents, MAC Birmingham 2011; Prague Biennale 2011, and the Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2009.
Her work is part of the Hotel Crillon collection, Paris; Saatchi Collection, London; Hogan Lovells Collection, London; the Ahmanson Collection, California and numerous private collections worldwide.