Karena Karras
Karena A. Karras (born October 10, 1950) is an American painter whose work has been associated with the surrealist tradition.
Early life and education
Karras was born in Chicago, Illinois, and lived there for most of her life. She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Career and artistic style
In a 2005 review of her exhibition Surreal Hybrids at Gruen Galleries, Chicago Sun-Times art and architecture critic Kevin Nance described Karras as working within a lineage of surrealist painters associated with Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí, noting affinities with the work of Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington.[1]
Nance wrote that while echoes of Varo and Carrington appear in her work, Karras “is no pale imitation,” emphasizing her individual voice within the tradition. According to the review, Karras formed a friendship with Carrington during the period when Carrington lived in Oak Park, Illinois.
Her paintings frequently explore themes of metamorphosis, particularly the transformation of the human—often female—figure into animal or vegetal forms. Nance observed that her work draws on classical mythology, psychology, and dream imagery, creating compositions that balance fantasy and realism.
In a year-end roundup of Chicago cultural events, Kevin Nance cited Karras’s exhibition Surreal Hybrids as evidence that “there’s life left in the Surrealist tradition,” describing the show as a “bold visual essay on metaphysical transformation.”[2]
A later review in Newcity examined Karras’s work in the context of contemporary surrealist painting, discussing her use of hybrid imagery and dreamlike symbolism in relation to narrative and psychological themes.[3]
Exhibitions
- Surreal Hybrids, Gruen Galleries, Chicago (2005)[1]
- Doug Stapleton and Karena Karras, Eyeporium, Chicago (2009)[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nance, Kevin (September 14, 2005). "Keeping it surreal". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 72.
|section=ignored (help) - ↑ Nance, Kevin (December 18, 2005). "Toulouse-Lautrec tops year in art, architecture". Chicago Sun-Times. p. D5.
- ↑ Foumberg, Jason (April 6, 2009). "Review: Doug Stapleton and Karena Karras / Eyeporium". Newcity Chicago. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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