Art & Culture

Next Big Thing: Nina Hartmann

The South Florida native employs methods that stem from an inherent well of skepticism

December 6, 2024

Through a deft juxtaposition of materials, Nina Hartmann’s inkjet, resin, wood, and acrylic creations are subversive, sculptural totems. Mining imagery from U.S. government databases, military technology press pamphlets, and conspiracy message boards, she employs methods that stem from an inherent well of skepticism. “I’m interested in the truthfulness that we assign to official sources,” says the South Florida native, who had her first solo show at Silke Lindner in New York.

Star Diagram/Psychoanalysis Connection, 2024, by Nina Hartmann. Photo: CHRIS HERITY; COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND SILKE LINDNER

“At a time when the nature of reality itself seems to dissolve under the weight of each AI development, Nina turns to question our belief in the concept of proof itself. She offers murky maps to problems we are not yet able to name”

Melanie Kress

Nina Hartmann, Orgone Accumulator Diagram, 2024. Photo: Flavio Pescatori; Courtesy the artist, Silke Lindner, New York, and Clima, Milan

Nina Hartmann, Organizing Chaos, 2024. Photo: CHRIS HERITY; COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND SILKE LINDNER

Subject matter: “We live in an information age where it’s almost impossible to know the true source of legitimacy of what we see,” explains Hartmann. “My work emulates and plays off these anxieties using AI and other forms of alteration. There’s a playfulness
or trickster spirit to the way I think about making art.”

Creative influences: Hartmann also draws influence from album art and ephemera for industrial and punk bands, such as Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV.