KATE SHEPHERD

WORKS CURRENTLY_AVAILABLE CV MEDIA EXHIBITIONS

Intense colour, an exacting sense of touch, attraction to geometry and the articulation of space are the principal aspects of Shepherd’s work. At the centre of this exhibition lies a suite of recent paintings, which revisit some of the artist’s preceding painting series. United by the artist’s signature white line drawings on monochromatic reflective colour fields each work describes a clearly defined period in Shepherd’s oeuvre.

Singular confined linear forms inspired by African sculpture, geometric tile pattern, the movements of falling rain or deconstructed architectural spaces are the basis for these paintings. Each line, painted with oil by hand, is highly constructed in appearance yet clearly not mechanic invite the viewer to render an imaginary space. The reflective surface of each work draws the viewer into the picture plane while inadvertently including his or her own image into the painting. The eye tethers between a drawn image and the outlined field. The atmospheric of both the monochromatic background and the faint reflections of the room that surrounds it are all pulled together into an exceptionally immersive experience.

A suite of new paper block assemblages complete the installation of Kate Shepherd’s first exhibition at Bartha Contemporary. Derived out of repeated elongated triangular forms, both recognizable in their foundations and also combined as larger sections, they are graphical in appearance, but play with a language of colour studies, children’s blocks and corporate logos. Arranged along shelves, each work part of a larger set can be turned and reconfigured. Each arrangement reveals new surprising structures within this playful series.