janette kerr catalogue
DESCRIPTION
New Works from the SeaTRANSCRIPT
JANETTE KERRPRWA, Hon RA Member
C A D O G A NC O N T E M P O R A R Y
87 Old Brompton RoadLondon SW7 3LD
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7581 5451www.cadogancontemporary.com
Private View Tuesday, 18th November
6pm - 8pm
Gallery HoursMonday - Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 11am - 6pm
or by appointment
JANETTE KERRPRWA, Hon RA Member
New Works from the Sea
18th November - 3rd December 2014
A profound understanding of the power of nature
‘My paintings’, writes Janette Kerr, ‘represent immediate responses to sound and silences within the landscape around me; they are about movement and the rhythms of sea and wind, swelling and breaking waves, the merging of spray with air, advancing rain and mist, glancing sunlight - elements that seem to be about something intangible.’ Few contemporary artists have so deftly summarised the essentials of their art. Kerr renders the immaterial tangible. She does so with maximum intensity. Her recent suite of paintings is robust, physical, strong-willed. Vigorously painted, seething with sustained energy the brushwork is dynamic and evocative, but always root-ed ineffably in the visceral experience of nature at its most raw.
A self-confessed ‘foul weather painter’ Kerr has become renowned for her approach to the plein-air. In all weathers, in every season she can be seen perched on cliff-tops at the furthest tip of the British Isles, her canvases weighed down against the elements, the painter staring out into the heaving tides and exploding surf. But these recent paintings also incorporate her recent sea voy-ages and collaborations with Scandinavian scientists. Absorbing their theories on extreme wave formation she has created a steady stream of powerful images, calmer seas as well as wild ones. Her blog records these fresh insights:
Attentive and alert, Kerr has an intimate understanding of the sea honed by long weeks of studi-ous observation. Her repertoire is remarkable. One of her greatest assets as a painter, writes the Irish critic Brian Fallon of a previous exhibition, is the inventive quality of the brushwork, ‘it is dynamic and suggestive, and has an organic life of its own.’ This is so true. Her current exhibition is further proof of an extending vocabulary of pictorial design and gesture. Sometimes in looking at her paintings we can orientate ourselves, we can detect an horizon; in others all sense of nor-mal order has been abandoned, the picture plane tilts and shudders, cloud has become crest of a vast wave, sunlight seems to burgeon from the depth of the waters not from above. To be absorbed by these new paintings is to be thrillingly overwhelmed by a lust for the language and possibility of pure painting. But it is a language tempered always by a keen knowledge of nature, a profound understanding of its power and resilience.
Professor Paul GoughMelbourne, Australia
Heading north from Ålesund, the sun behind us, the sea is still incredibly calm, light travelling softly across its surface. A dark dull greenish hue, gentle undulations cross its surface, no breaking waves to be seen, not even along the shoreline. Either side of the ship lie dark rocky cliff faces, the tops covered with a dusting of snow. Warm in the sun, the temperature is still 0° in the shade.
Hunkering Hereoil on gesso board
61cm x 61cm / 24” x 24”
Creeping Sea Mist, Brindisteroil on gesso board
40cm x 40cm / 16” x 16”
Shifting Wind, Brindsteroil on gesso board
40cm x 40cm / 16” x 16”
These Sudden Changesoil on canvas
100cm x 120cm / 39” x 47”
Probability of Exceedanceoil on canvas
115cm x 130cm / 45” x 51”
Lateral Motionoil on gesso board
130cm x 130cm / 51” x 51”
Ode to Nansenoil on canvas
56cm x 56cm / 22” x 22”
I Can Hardly Speakoil on canvas
95cm x 95cm / 37” x 37”
Priest Coveoil on canvas
60cm x 60cm / 24” x 24”
Occluded Frontoil on canvas
60cm x 60cm / 24” x 24”
Running Before the Rainoil on canvas and gesso board
65cm x 80cm / 26” x 32”
Beyond Reachoil on canvas
61cm x 61cm / 24” x 24”
Sky Manoeuvres - Muckle Rowoil on gesso board
50cm x 50cm / 20” x 20”
Whitened, Slack, Furiousoil on canvas
80cm x 115cm / 32” x 45”
Dawn Sea Pinkoil on canvas
76cm x 115cm / 30” x 45”
Sea Mist Adriftoil on canvas
100cm x 100cm / 39” x 39”
Diving Deepoil on canvas
100cm x100cm / 39” x 39”
Above and Belowoil on canvas
115cm x 115 cm / 49” x 49”
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014 Cadogan Contemporary Gallery, London (forthcoming)2013 Kystmuseet i Oygarden, Bergen, Norway2012 60 Degrees North, Cadogan Contemporary, London Marine Research Centre, Bergen Meteorological Institute, Bergen, Norway Open Studio, Somerset Sea Drawings, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol2011 Extreme Wave Conference, World Meteorological Organisation, Geneva Extremes and Instabilities, Bonhoga Gallery, Shetland Royal Geographic Society Annual Conference, London2010 St Giles Gallery, Norwich Open Studio, Somerset2009 Origin Gallery, Dublin, ROI Peripheral Visions, Cadogan Contemporary Gallery2008 Open Studio, Somerset 2007 Edge - Hybrid Gallery, Honiton St Giles Gallery, Norwich2004 Adam Gallery, Bath & London 2002 Stour Gallery, Shipston-on Stour2001 Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath 1999 Hartnoll Gallery, London 1998 Grizedale Centre Gallery, Cumbria
INVITED SHOWS
2014 Birmingham and Beyond, Royal Birmingham Society of Artists2014 Power of the Sea, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol Stour Gallery (Shipton-on-Stour) Summer Show Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh A2 Gallery, Wells Hilton Fine Art (Bath) Summer Show Royal Academy (London) Summer Exhibition 20x20 Anniversary Exhibition, Bonhoga Gallery (Shetland) Sladers Yard, Bridport group show 2013 Cadogan Contemporary, Small Works mixed show Sladers Yard Gallery, Bridport, 3 person show2012 Royal Academy Summer Show, London Royal West of England Academy (Bristol) Autumn Show Stour Gallery (Shipston-on-Stour) mixed show Works on Paper, Cadogan Contemporary (London) 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Cadogan Contemporary (London) Abstraction, Cadogan Contemporary (London)2010 Air Gallery, Wells , Somerset Open Painting Exhibition, RWA (Bristol) Abstract, Cadogan Contemporary (London)2009 Blackbird Gallery, Kilkenny (Kilkenny Arts Festival), ROI Irish Art, Stour Gallery, Shipston-on-Stour (3 person)
JANETTE KERR
Around the British Coastline, Richard Hagen Gallery, Broadway West Country Artists - Bowlish Gallery, Bowlish, Somerset Workshop Wales Gallery, Fishguard, Wales Edinburgh Art Fair (Bowlish Gallery), Scotland Night: A Time Between - Royal West of England Academy Summer Exhibition, Cadogan Contemporary 2007 Earth - Rook Lane Chapel, Frome Art Festival, Somerset Micro-Macro - Queens Street Gallery, Emsworthy, (2 person) Hampshire Inspires Gallery, Oxford (2 person) Alpha House Gallery, Sherbourne, Dorset Quartz Visual Arts Festival, Taunton, Somerset Bowlish Contemporary Gallery, Bowlish, Somerset Sadler Street Gallery, Wells, Somerset Stour Gallery, Shipston-on-Stour2006 Around the Fort - South Cadbury Sadler Street Gallery Christmas Show, Wells, Somerset Alpha House Gallery Somerset Art Week - open studio, Somerset Celtic Influence - Stour Gallery, Shipston-on-Stour Drawing Room - Royal West of England Academy, Bristol2005 Fairfax Gallery, Tunbridge Wells Quartz Visual Art Festival, Taunton, Somerset The Lie of the land - Byard Art, Cambridge Seven painters at Asthall Manor - Pierrepont Fine Art An Irish Connection - Stour Gallery, Shipston-on-Stour C2 Gallery, Stoke Hammond The Gallery Upstairs, Henley-on-Thames London Art Fair (Adam Gallery) London, UK2004 Somerset Art Week – open studio, Somerset, UK2003/04 London Art Fair, Chelsea (Pierrepont Fine Art) London2001/04 Byard Art, Cambridge2003 Mullan Gallery, Belfast 20th Century Art Fair, London (Adam Gallery) Maltby Fine Art, Winchester Into the Light - Hotbath Gallery, Bath2002/03 Pierrepont Fine Art, Oxford 2002 Dorset landscape - The Old Warehouse Gallery, Dorchester Albany Gallery, Cardiff, Wales Dublin Art Fair (Byard Art) Dublin, ROI2001 Works on Paper, London Art Fair (Byard Art) London Martin Tinney Gallery, Cardiff, Wales Spring Art & Antique Fair, Olympia (Anthony Hepworth Fine Art) London2000-02 20-21st Century Art Fair, London (Anthony Hepworth Gallery)2000 London Contemporary Art Fair (Anthony Hepworth Fine Art) London Collectors Pictures - Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath Women Artists, Stour Gallery, Shipston-on-Stour 1999-02 Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath1998 Viewpoints - Artsway, (invited artist) Dorset
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2014 RWA Autumn Exhibition, Bristol Royal Academy Summer Show, London2013 RWA Autumn Exhibition, Bristol Royal Academy Summer Show, London RWA Drawn Open, Bristol2012 Royal Academy Summer Show, London RWA Autumn Exhibition, Bristol2011 RWA Autumn Exhibition, Bristol2010 Open Painting Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 2007/8/910 Royal West of England Academy, Bristol2006 Royal Academy Summer Show, London1995/97/98/2002 30th Laing Seascape & Landscape Annual Competition, Mall Galleries, London2000 Hunting Art Competition, London1997 Millfield Summer Show, Street, Somerset1996 Cheltenham Annual Drawing Competition, Gloucestershire
CURATOR AND SELECTOR
2014 Power of the Sea Exhibition, Bristol A2 Gallery Open Exhibition, Wells RWA Annual Autumn show, Bristol 2013 Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Annual Exhibition RWA Annual Autumn show, Bristol RWA Drawn Open submission show, Bristol
WORK IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The Royal CollectionBergen Meteorological Institution Shetland ArtsDublin Office of Public WorksRoyal West of England Academy Permanent CollectionTallboys Bequest, BristolVictoria Art Gallery Print Collection (Bath), Grizedale Society (Cumbria)Colle Verde Art Trust, TuscanyNorthLink Ferries, Aberdeen-LerwickMeteorological Institute, Bergen, NorwayPrivate collections in UK, Europe, USA, SA, Norway, Russia
AWARDS
2012 Turning Point South-West Bursary for The Penzance Convention2011 Elected President of the Royal West of England Academy2010 Residency - The Booth, Shetland (February and October) Arts Council England award2006/8/9 Cill Rialaig Residencies, S Ireland2003 Elected Royal West of England Academician2000 Windle Trust Bursary 1999 David Murray Studentship Award, Royal Academy Schools1996 Ruskin/Colle Verde Travel Bursary 1995 1st prize, Laing Landscape Art (SW)
RESIDENCIES
2013 Meterological Institue, Bergen, Norway2012 Brisons Veor, Cape Cornwall2010 The Booth, Shetland (February & October)2006, 08, 09 Cill Riallaig, International artists & writers retreat, S Ireland1999 In House: making & installing night works in two domestic houses. Bath Fringe Festival1997 Grizedale Forest Art Fellowship, Cumbria19916 Llangatwg Comprehensive School, Neath Valley (Art Council of Wales funded).
PUBLICATIONS
2014 Power of the Sea - Catalogue and book2010 Extremes and Insabilities, catalogue, limited edition2008 Night: A Time Between, catalogue (editor and contributor) Featured Artist (RWA Friends Magazine, Spring 2008)2006 Fifty Wessex Artists. Publisher: [Evolver] Books2005 Representation & Indeterminacy: A Study of Night in Painting, PhD thesis (2005)2004 Solo Show Catalogue, Adam Gallery 2000 In House Twice - Artists’ Book, Wild Conversations Press 1999 Art Review: The Painters Eye: Janette Kerr. March 1st, 1998 Landscape Research: Representation & Indeterminacy: Night in landscape painting; Two Months in Darkness (Spring and Summer editions).
C A D O G A NC O N T E M P O R A R Y
87 Old Brompton RoadLondon SW7 3LD
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7581 5451www.cadogancontemporary.com