Mette Tommerup (Born 1969) is a painter and installation artist based in Miami, FL. Originally from Denmark, Tommerup received a BFA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1990) and an MFA from School of Visual Arts, NYC (1995). Tommerup was a painting professor at Florida International University, Miami and continues to mentor younger artists.
Tommerup is best known for creating large-scale works where she activates canvases by subjecting them to natural elements such as immersing them in ocean water, activating them in the environment, or liberating them by suspending them off of buildings at dawn or dusk. Her art is characterized by exploration, liberation, deconstruction, and immersive performance. The mark making on the rolls of raw canvas is achieved by saturating them with permanent polymer bound pigment in various elaborate processes. Concepts behind the work are influenced by the theory of art historian and critic Germano Celant whereby painting is an act of infinity rather than a distinct object.
Tommerup was recently commissioned by Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Art in Public Places Trust for two public art projects. The first project, a custom exterior aluminum mural, Sky of the First Water, was completed in 2022 in Coconut Grove, Miami, FL. The second, an interior 185' wide painting, Ocean Contour, also completed in 2022, is located in Terminal F, PortMiami, Miami, FL.
Tommerup’s work can be found in numerous museum collections including The Frost Art Museum FIU, The Lowe Art Museum and Perez Art Museum Miami. Tommerup has completed several site-specific installations for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and her work can be found in many private collections nationally and internationally.
Awards include Miami Individual Artists Program (MIA) 2024 and the Hassam, Speicher, Betts and Symons Purchase Fund at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, NYC 2010.
Portrait by Karli Evans