Catherine Lee
07 Jul - 25 Aug 2007
CATHERINE LEE
"Sculpture"
A major American artist, better known to the European public since her exhibitions at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Dublin, 2005), at the Modern Art Museum, La Terrasse (Saint Etienne, 2006) and at the Hôtel des Arts (Toulon, 2006), Catherine Lee will show sculptures from the last twenty years as well as recent works, accompanied by a selection of works on paper.
Catherine Lee works with metal, bronze, ceramics or glass which she handles in a very specific way. The raku is thus baked and subjected to a thermal shock and the surfaces are often covered with encaustic. Intimate or monumental, the forms created out of these traditional materials are pure. The importance given to the material and the artisanal execution of the works distances the artist from a minimalist approach and instead privileges a certain subjectivity. Often, the titles of these works, on a human scale, refer to a personal experience – a place visited, for example. If the artist explores different combinations and variations on forms within a single work and throughout a series, her reliefs and subtly colored sculptures repeat themselves while at the same time maintaining a strong sense of individuality. From the turquoise in Clad Sentinal n°2 to the oxidized colors in Johnstown and the vibrant red in Red Cubic Copper, the artist’s palette is extensive. The modular work could resemble a declension of specimens within the same species.
The fascinating presence in the gallery space of these “abstract objects” might recall artifacts such as arrow heads as much as natural elements, and particularly minerals. This very presence maintains an indecisiveness as to their nature and temporality. The manufactured pieces, worked on at length, acquire in fine a singular autonomy.
Either mural or placed on the ground, in between painting and sculpture, the works capture our attention through their contrast between the precious quality of the technique (glazed raku) and a sometimes rough assembly (the nails are visible in the Cubic, which remind one of cubist constructions). Both autonomous figures and objects composed of different elements find an equilibrium in the dynamic whereas the assembled puzzle-like forms provoke, through their haphazard surface, a recurring internal movement. Catherine Lee investigates the tension between permanence and change, movement and stability, as is apparent in her penchant for modifiable materials which undergo a metamorphosis while being handled and evolve in a continuous manner.
Born in 1950, Catherine Lee lives and works in Texas. Her works are represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well as at the Tate Gallery in London.
"Sculpture"
A major American artist, better known to the European public since her exhibitions at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Dublin, 2005), at the Modern Art Museum, La Terrasse (Saint Etienne, 2006) and at the Hôtel des Arts (Toulon, 2006), Catherine Lee will show sculptures from the last twenty years as well as recent works, accompanied by a selection of works on paper.
Catherine Lee works with metal, bronze, ceramics or glass which she handles in a very specific way. The raku is thus baked and subjected to a thermal shock and the surfaces are often covered with encaustic. Intimate or monumental, the forms created out of these traditional materials are pure. The importance given to the material and the artisanal execution of the works distances the artist from a minimalist approach and instead privileges a certain subjectivity. Often, the titles of these works, on a human scale, refer to a personal experience – a place visited, for example. If the artist explores different combinations and variations on forms within a single work and throughout a series, her reliefs and subtly colored sculptures repeat themselves while at the same time maintaining a strong sense of individuality. From the turquoise in Clad Sentinal n°2 to the oxidized colors in Johnstown and the vibrant red in Red Cubic Copper, the artist’s palette is extensive. The modular work could resemble a declension of specimens within the same species.
The fascinating presence in the gallery space of these “abstract objects” might recall artifacts such as arrow heads as much as natural elements, and particularly minerals. This very presence maintains an indecisiveness as to their nature and temporality. The manufactured pieces, worked on at length, acquire in fine a singular autonomy.
Either mural or placed on the ground, in between painting and sculpture, the works capture our attention through their contrast between the precious quality of the technique (glazed raku) and a sometimes rough assembly (the nails are visible in the Cubic, which remind one of cubist constructions). Both autonomous figures and objects composed of different elements find an equilibrium in the dynamic whereas the assembled puzzle-like forms provoke, through their haphazard surface, a recurring internal movement. Catherine Lee investigates the tension between permanence and change, movement and stability, as is apparent in her penchant for modifiable materials which undergo a metamorphosis while being handled and evolve in a continuous manner.
Born in 1950, Catherine Lee lives and works in Texas. Her works are represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well as at the Tate Gallery in London.