Cathy Wilkes

On the 31st of December in 2009, Cathy Wilkes’ work was last on view in Berlin at Giti Nourbakhsch gallery. Today she returns to Berlin with a sparsely furnished exhibition. She presents 7 flower motifs printed on thin paper; in two vitrines she sketches landscapes and narratives using historical photos, polaroid images, papier-mâché and mundane everyday objects. Linen cloth and egg tempera create an immediate illusionist depiction of a winter backdrop.

The installation of the artworks appears discreet and vulnerable; some works are presented significantly below eye level, two glass objects rest on the gallery floor, withdrawing themselves from comfortable access via the visitor’s gaze. There is a lot of empty space between the objects. The gallery’s large, unveiled window panes create a genuine connection between the exhibits and everyday life on Rosa-Luxemburg-Square.

The first impression of effortlessness is deceptive. The exhibits, created using a reduced range of means, were in fact produced with the utmost attention to detail, their components carefully chosen, reworked and refined several times—all in order to create things that appear silent and insignificant.

Cathy Wilkes’ artworks pass through continuous processes of self-observation, questioning and exploration of personal and universal meaning—they are simultaneously perceived as exactly what they are: as triggers for memories, fantasies, sorrows and fears.

Cathy Wilkes lives and works in Glasgow. She was born in Belfast in 1966. In 2008, she was nominated for the Turner Prize and she was awarded with the first Maria Lassnig Prize in 2017. Two years ago, she represented the UK at the 58th Venice Biennale (2019).

Further solo shows by Cathy Wilkes:

Yale Union, Portland (2018)

MoMA PS1, New York (2017)

Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach (2015/2016)

Tate Liverpool (2015)

Tramway, Glasgow (2014)

The Renaissance Society, University of Chicago (2012)

Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2011)

Gesellschaft für aktuelle Kunst, Bremen (2011)

Kunstverein München (2011)

SMAK, Ghent (2004)

Inverleith House, Edinburgh (2002)

Migros Museum, Zurich (2002)