Kathe Burkhart
dal 18/11/2004 al 20/12/2004
Segnalato da
18/11/2004
Kathe Burkhart
Schroeder Romero, New York
Selections from the Torture Paintings 1992-2001. The source materials consist of images collected through research from books and photographs. The project was quantifiably limited by available research sites and materials, as well as by the artist's own personal history. The paintings are presented in ostentatious, faux-antique baroque frames, with title plaques bearing the names of old boyfriends, and the year(s) of the relationships.
Selections from the Torture Paintings 1992-2001
Schroeder Romero is pleased to announce a solo show by Kathe Burkhart. This is her second show with Schroeder Romero. Selections from the Torture Paintings 1992-2001 will present the first solo survey of these works to be seen in New York City, which have been widely exhibited in Europe at the Groninger Museum, Venice Biennale, and Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Bruges.
The source materials consist of images collected through research from books and photographs Burkhart has taken of torture implements in various European castles, museums and archives. The project was quantifiably limited by available research sites and materials, as well as by the artist's own personal history. The selected images are enlarged to life size or slightly larger, and painted onto surfaces such as black leather, latex, velvet, distressed cowhide, and sometimes canvas. The paintings are presented in ostentatious, faux-antique baroque frames, with title plaques bearing the names of old boyfriends, and the year(s) of the relationships.
The conceptual basis of the work operates in layers, addressing strategies of artmaking and presentation, as well as what Lynn Chancer has termed 'the sadomasochism of everyday life.' Initiated vis-Ã -vis the resistant position of the female subject the politics and intersections of public and private histories are called into question. The torture paintings investigate the tyranny of binary systems of domination, through a critique of the methodology of representation and abstraction. The paintings pillory the abstract, conflating the genres of portraiture and still life in a way that's not unrelated to the Liz Taylor Series, another long-term series that blurs representation with autobiography, portraiture with self-portraiture, and text with sub-text.
Burkhart, who divides her time between New York and Amsterdam, has exhibited widely in North America and Europe. Kathe Burkhart's exhibition is in association with a show of her early work at Mitchell Algus Gallery, 511 West 25th Street, November 27-January 8,2004. Opening reception Saturday November 27, 6-8pm. Both exhibitions will be accompanied by a catalogue of works by Kathe Burkhart entitled Bad Girlwith texts by the artist, Lia Gangitano and Steve Lafrieniere, in English; Dutch translations by Jozef van Wissem.
Generous support for both exhibitions is made possible by the contribution of The Mondriaan Foundation.
Opening Reception:
Friday November 19th, 6-9pm
Schroeder Romero is open Friday - Monday, 12-6pm and by appointment.
Please contact Lisa Schroeder or Sara Jo Romero for further information.
Upcoming exhibitions:
New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) Art Fair, Miami, December 2-5, 2004
Evan Schwartz Reclaiming Puberty January 7-February 14, 2005
The gallery is located at 173A North 3rd Street, between Bedford and Metropolitan, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.
Directions:
L train to Bedford Avenue. Walk south four blocks to North 3rd Street, turn left.