Katy Kirbach makes large painting-collages that are guided by repetition and material processes, and mine the history of abstraction, fashion, and textile design. Recent exhibitions include I Cheer a Dead Man’s Sweetheart, De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, U.K.; Acid Blush, Christian Larsen Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden (solo); March Mostra, British School at Rome, Italy; Woman’s Hour, HorizonVerticaal, Haarlem, Netherlands; Abstract Critical Newcomer Awards, Kings Place Gallery, London, U.K.; Night Shift, Simon Oldfield Gallery, London, U.K.; and Got the Blues for Red, Christian Larsen Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden (solo). In 2012-2013, she was the Abbey Scholar in Painting at the British School at Rome, Italy. She holds a BFA from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Royal Academy Schools, London, U.K.

http://www.katykirbach.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Bonds (Heart Notes)

Acrylic, paper, and adhesive on canvas

120 x 100 cm / 47.2 x 39.4 in

2011

 

 

For several years, I've been working with a repetition of a herringbone pattern. Using this pattern within my paintings, I've been thinking both of textiles from the Italian fashion house Missoni, and of a very basic brick pattern seen in buildings in Rome. 

When curator Karen Azarnia invited me to make a piece for her balcony for the Terrain Biennial, I began to think about the importance of edges - of the confines of the stretcher - within my painting practice. Agreeing to make a piece off of the stretcher meant I needed to find a new way to frame the work. I've been cutting into large swathes of painted canvas, creating a herringbone pattern in the negative space. The piece will hang from top-to-bottom, edge-to-edge, covering Karen's entire balcony and essentially becoming a brightly-colored, zig-zagging extension of the brickwork on either side.