Past Exhibition
- Karen Kilimnik
Karen Kilimnik
Greenwich May 6th to October 1st, 2012
KAREN KILIMNIK
The Brant Foundation is pleased to present a major exhibition of works by Karen Kilimnik opening on Sunday, May 6, 2012. The exhibition will include installation, paintings, photographs and drawings from the years 1982 – 2012. These works reference subjects as seemingly disparate as witchcraft, Napoleon, World War II, set design, the solar system, magic and equestrian themes. The exhibition continues through September 2012.
This presentation of Kilimnik’s work permits a rigorous consideration of her practice through a combinative display of new work, historical retrospective and re-interpretation afforded by the Brant Foundation Art Study Center’s dynamic space and country idyll. The artist seizes the opportunity to reanimate some of her most iconic works by exhibiting them in newly realized forms, resulting in an application of her uniquely refracted perspective to the exhibition space and the works on display.
In the upper gallery, Kilimnik will present a new installation, Fountain of Youth, which consists of six feet of boxwood hedges, grass, ivy and a stone garden fountain and glass perfume bottles. The lower gallery includes a chinoiserie themed installation where early drawings will hang with custom wallpaper, furniture, garden seats, fans and lanterns.
Kilimnik will also exhibit her influential 1989 installation The Hellfire Club episode of the Avengers. A mise-en-scene, based on the 1960s British television series The Avengers, is an installation arrangement of xeroxes, photographs and props framed by velvet curtains and two impenetrably black drawings of British manor houses. Several nearly life-size photocopies of the stars of The Avengers (Emma Peel and John Steed) are part of the tableau, as if bringing the episode to life. Gold frames, mirrors, cobwebs, swords, an ax; these elements combine with a pea, The Beatles, and other stereotypically British imagery, forming the artist’s own portrait of the artificially exaggerated tenets that made the television show so engaging. The Avengers’ soundtrack is similarly collaged to reflect the show’s feeling, using edited snippets of Haydn, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, the Surfin’ Safaris, Madonna, Arthur Brown, the Rolling Stones and incidental sounds of clinking chandelier crystals.
A major focus for Kilimnik is the blending of real and imagined portraiture. In her iconic paintings, modern pop-cultural icons are inserted into composed historical overtures, resulting in an enchanted kind of unreality. Kilimnik traffics in the creation of reciprocal allegories, whereby the malleable personas of her actors are subjected to perpetually reversing roles. Becoming illustrations for the cloudy vagueness of a romanticized past, the role of the human subject is diminished, drawing attention to the fabricated nature of time and place in the creation of her arcane historical scenarios. Early drawings and self-portrait photographs with references to modeling, fashion advertisements and the cult of celebrity reinforce these preoccupations with the fluid nature of identity. Kilimnik’s connection to the resonant psychological power of ornamental objects and words is an undercurrent throughout these works, as we find snippets of abandoned flowers, ribbons, patches of sky or chunks of slogans inserted wholesale into various pieces of her oeuvre.
Programs and Events:
Karen Kilimnik Exhibition Announcement
Karen Kilimnik Exhibition Opening
Artist Biography
Karen Kilimnik
Karen Kilimnik was born in 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kilimnik currently lives and works in Philadelphia.
Drawing correspondences between romantic tradition and consumer culture, Karen Kilimnik’s work brings a haunting and contrary sense of beauty to contemporary art. The world of the ballet and childhood, romantic painting and pop music, icons of film and fashion, signs of witchcraft, time-travel, and murder comprise an imagery that has been culled from the historic and recent past into an unsettling present. In a world where the forces of nature, youth, and terror have taken awesome hold, Kilimnik’s art rematerializes a quest for the romantic sublime.
Karen Kilimnik graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia in 1984.
The Child Mind Institute Charity Auction
The Brant Foundation Loan Program: Karen Kilimnik at Galerie Eva Presenhuber
SOLO
| 2016 |
303 Gallery, New York, Château de Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison, France, presented by Le Consortium, Dijon |
| 2015 |
Sprüth Magers, London, UK |
| 2014 |
“Psyche” at Opera National de Paris / Opera Garnier, ParisSprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany |
| 2013 |
Cuverie du Prince de Conti, Vosne Romanée, France, presented by Le Consortium, DijonCuverie du Pince de Conti Romane Conti/Consortium, Dijon, FranceGalerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland |
| 2012 |
Karen Kilimnik & Kim Gordon, 303 Gallery, New York, NY"Dance Rehearsal: Karen Kilimnik's World of Ballet and Theatre", Mills CollegeArt Museum, Oakland, CAThe Brant Foundation, Greenwich, CT |
| 2011 |
303 Gallery, New York“Psyche”, Opera National de Paris / Opera Garnier, Paris |
| 2010 |
II Capricorno, Venice, ItalyJoseph Cornell Karen Kilimnik, Curated by Todd Levin, Spruh Magers, London“Intervention”, Osterreichischle Galerie Belvedere, Vienna |
| 2009 |
“Made in Naples”, Festival, Karole Armitage Ballet Company, Naples |
| 2008 |
303 Gallery, New YorkEva Presenhuber, Zurich“Heathers”, Philomene Magers, Berlin“Karen Kilimnik” MCA Museum of contemporary art, Chicago |
| 2007 |
"Karen Kilimnik", Powel House Museum, Philadelphia"Karen Kilimnik", Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO; MOCA MiamiSerpentine Gallery, LondonLe Consortium, Dijon, FranceSpruth Magers, LondonSpruth Magers, Cologne“Karen Kilimnik” Aspen Art Museum, Aspen |
| 2006 |
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris303 Gallery, New York |
| 2005 |
Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, VeniceHistorisches Museum Basel, Haus Zum Kirschgarten, Basel |
| 2004 |
Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland“Hayden-Zimmer, Salzburg” Galerie Spruth/Magers, Munich, Germany |
| 2003 |
Galerie Sprüth/Magers, Munich, Germany |
| 2002 |
“Fairy Battle”, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, IrelandIl Capricorno, Venice, ItalyGalerie Hauser & Wirth & Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland303 Gallery, New YorkLuxe Gallery, New York |
| 2001 |
Gallery Side 2, Tokyo, Japan303 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 2000 |
Emily Tsingou Gallery, London, U.K.Galerie Sprüth/Magers, Munich, GermanyBonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany South London Gallery, London, U.K.Kunstverein Wolfsburg e. V. Wolfsburg, GermanyGalerie Hauser & Wirth & Presenhuber, Zurich, SwitzerlandNassau County Museum of Art, NY“Drawing on the figure” MCA-Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago |
| 1999 |
Rebecca Camhi Gallery, Athens, GreeceGallery Side 2, Tokyo, Japan303 Gallery, New York, NYGalerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France |
| 1998 |
H & R Projects, Brussels, BelgiumEmily Tsingou Gallery, London, EnglandGalerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France“Hungry ghosts”, The Douglas Hyde Gallery Kunsthalle, Zurich“Belladonna”, ICA, London |
| 1997 |
303 Gallery, New York, NYKunsthalle Zurich, Switzerland |
| 1996 |
Galleria Il Capricorno, Venice, ItalyRebecca M. Camhi Gallery, Athens, GreeceTransmission Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland |
| 1995 |
303 Gallery, New York, NYJack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, CACenter for Contemporary Gravure, GenevaGalerie Walcheturm, Zurich, SwitzerlandGalerie Jennifer Flay, Paris, FranceGalerie Metropol, Vienna, AustriaYnglingagatan 1, Stockholm, Sweden |
| 1994 |
White Cube, London, UKGalleria Il Capricorno, Venice, ItalyModulo Centro Difusor de Arte, Lisboa, PortugalCarmago Villaqua, Sao Paulo“Reflex”, Wiener Secession, ViennaGalerie Sylvia Lorenz, Paris |
| 1993 |
303 Gallery, New York, NYGalerie Marc Jancou, Zurich, SwitzerlandStudio Lapeyre, Milan, Italy |
| 1992 |
“Escape in Time,” Institute of Contemporary Art, PhiladelphiaGalerie Jennifer Flay, Paris, FranceGalerie Esther Schipper, Koln, GermanyGalerie Gisela Capitain, Koln, GermanyGalerie Ballgasse, Wein, Austria |
| 1991 |
303 Gallery, New York, NY |
GROUP
| 2016 |
"Home", Luma Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland “GVA < - > JFK”, MAMCO, Geneva |
| 2015 |
“Unrealism”, curated by Jeffery Deitch and Larry Gagosian, Moore Building, Miami “America is Hard to See”, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York “Works On Paper”, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland “No Man’s Land: Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection”, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL |
| 2013 |
“1984-1999. The Decade” Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz, France “Station to station”, New-York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Minneapolis, Santa Fe, Winslow, Barstow, Los Angeles, Aokland/San Fransisco "Miss Dior", Grand Palais, Paris "The Time is Now", John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco "On Cuteness", Halle für Kunst, Lüneberg, Germany |
| 2012 |
"A Bigger Splash: Painting After Performance", Tate Modern, London Decorative Art Museum of Paris, Paris, France "Looking Back for the Future", Kunsthalle, Zurich |
| 2011 |
“Sculpture Now”, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich |
| 2010 |
“How soon now”, Rubell Family Collection, Miami “Fritto Misto”, Tanja Pol Galerie, Munich “Picture Industry (goodbye to all that)”, organized by Walead Beshty, Regen Project, Los Angeles, California ”Black Swan" Regen Projects II, Los Angeles, California “Ordinary Madness”, Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| 2009 |
"Pretty Ugly", Maccarone Gallery, New York "Implant", UBS Art Gallery, New York |
| 2008 |
"We are Stardust, We are Golden", Johnen + Schöttle Since 1984", Johnen + Schöttle, Cologne, Germany 2008 Whitney Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum, New York "Order, Desire, Light", Irish Museum of Art, Dublin "Mysteries: Magic and Deception in Contemporary Art", Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco “Faces and Figures (Revisited)”, Mac Jancou Contemporary, New York “Menagerie: Animals & Nature”, Jack Hanley Gallery, New York |
| 2007 |
“The Incomplete,” Chelsea Art Museum, New York “Old School”, Hauser and Wirth Colnaghi, London "The Third Mind", curated by Ugo Rondinone, Palais de Tokyo, Paris |
| 2006 |
"Face to Face", Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössische Kunst Münster, Germany "The Subversive Charm of the Bourgeoise", VanAbbemuseum, Einhoven, Netherlands "Sweets & Beauties", Fredericks & Freiser, New York "Defamation of Character", PS1, New York |
| 2005 |
"Drawing from the Modern 1975-2005", Museum of Modern Art, New York "Ideal Worlds: New Romanticism in Contemporary Art", Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany "Beauty of the Painting", Stådische Galerie Delmenhorst, Germany |
| 2004 |
“Beauty Matter”, Tina Kim Fine Art, New York “American Idyll”, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York “Now Is a Good Time”, curated by Dean Valentine, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York "I Was in the House When the House Burned Down", Fredericks & Freiser, New York “The Big Nothing”, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA “9 Mutter XX04”, The Mutter Museum, Philadelphia, PA |
| 2003 |
"Never mind your step", Kunsthalle Palazzo, Liestal/Basel “girls don’t cry”, curated by Hiromi Kitazawa, Parco Museum, Japan “The 20th Anniversary Show”, Monika Spruth – Philomene Magers, Munich, Germany |
| 2002 |
“Go Figure”, curated by Michael Steinberg and Stefan Stoyanov, Luxe Gallery, New York “Cassatt, Neel, Kilimnik; Painted Faces”, curated by Lisa Melandri, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA “Reflexions”, curated by Monika Sprüth, Philomene Managers, |
| 2001 |
“The Mystery of Painting”, Sammlung Goetz, Munich, Germany “Conceptual Realism”, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, The University of the Arts, “Works on Paper From Acconci to Zittel”, Victoria Miro Gallery, London, U.K. “Collaboration With Parkett: 1984 to NOW”, Museum of Modern Art, New York “Drawing on the Figure: Works on Paper of the 1990’s from the Manilow Collection”, curated by Staci Boris, MoCA Chicago |
| 2000 |
Emily Tsiongou Gallery, London, UK “Drawings 2000”, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York “Calendar 2000”, curated by Eileen Cohen and Amada Cruz, Center for Curatorial Studies Museum, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY “Presumed Innocent”, capcMusée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France |
| 1999 |
“Spellbound”, Karyn Lovegrove Gallery, Los Angeles, CA “Heaven”, Kunsthalle Dusseldorf, Germany “Draw”, Emily Tsingou Gallery, London, England “horseplay”, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT Panel Discussion, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT Kunstverein Gallery, Wolfsburg, Germany “Fame After Photography”, Museum of Modern Art, NY “Free Coke”, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York, NY "Cosmogram", Galleria Marabini, Bologna "Accelerator", Arnolfini, Bristol "Le Grand Praemiere Opening Show", Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen "Draw", Emily Tsnigou Gallery, London |
| 1998 |
“La nuit, L’oubli (en souvenir de Gilles Dusein), Musee d’art Moderne et contemporain, Geneva “Roommates”, curated by Corinne Groot and Rob van de Ven, Museum van Loon, Amsterdam, The Netherlands “Super Freaks”, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York, NY “Exterminating Angel”, curated by Joshua Decter, Galerie Ghislaine “Tip of the Iceberg”, Dorfman Projects and Art Resources Transfer, New York “Presumed Innocence”, curated by Jean Crutchfield, Anderson Gallery, Richmond, Virginia and the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati “¿En qué estás pensando?” Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona, Spain “The Sound of One Hand”, curated by Collier Schorr, Apex Art C.P., New York, NY “drawings”, James Graham & Sons, New York, NY “Hungry Ghosts”, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland “Minis, Midis & Maxis”, Berufsvereinigung der bildenden Kunstler Vararlbergs, Kunstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis, Bregenz, Austria “Surfing the Surface”, dfn gallery, New York, NY “The Next Word”, curated by Johanna Drucker, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY “Accelerator”, Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, and Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, UK “Critical Elegance”, Deurle, Gent, Brussels "Deep Storage", Henry Art Gallery, Seattle "I shop, therefore I am", Kunstverein in Hamburg |
| 1997 |
"Belladonna", curated by Emma Dexter and Kate Bush, ICA, London "Karen Kilimnik, Nicole Eisenman, Raymond Pettibon", Galerie Rudiger Schottle, Munich “Art on Paper”, curated by Amy Cappellazzo, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, North Carolina “Landscape U.S.A.”, Bronwyn Keenan, New York "DISPLAY". Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall, Copenhagen |
| 1996 |
"Karen Kilimnik and Yoshitomo Nara", Johnen & Schottle, Koln, Germany "a/drift: Scenes From the Penetrable Culture", curated by Joshua Dector, Center for Curatorial Studies Museum, Bard College "Nirvana: Capitalism and the Consumed Image', Center of Contemporary Art, Seattle, Washington "Slight", Norwich Gallery, Norwich School of Art and Design, United Kingdom "Ideal Standard Life", Spiral/Wacoal Art Center, Tokyo, Japan "Baby Generation", Parco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan "Push-Ups", The Factory, Athens Fine Art School, Athens, Greece "Currents in Contemporary Art", Christie's East, New York, New York |
| 1995 |
"Autour de Roger Vivier", Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, France "Saturday Night Fever", curated by Michael Cohen and Cathrine Liu, Tom Solomon's Garage, Los Angeles, CA “Jahreswechsel”, Leccese-Spruth, Cologne “Un monde chez soi”, Saint Gervais, Geneva |
| 1994 |
"Snow Job", Forde, Geneva, Switzerland Carmago Villaqua, Sao Paulo, Brazil "Portraits", Janice Guy, New York, NY "6th Semaine Internationale de Video", Geneva "Desire", DIFFA, Visionaire, Charles Cowels Gallery, NY "Face-Off, The Portrait in Recent Art", Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania "Hellraiser", Comune di Mote Carasso, Monte Carasso |
| 1993 |
"Audience 0.01", curated by Helena Kontova, Flash Art Museum, Italy “Die Neunziger/The Nineties”, curated by Martin Prinzhorn, Wiener Secession, Vienna "Uber Leben", Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany "Restaurant", organized by Marc Jancou, La Bocca, 59 Monmartre, 75002, Paris "The Art of Language", Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria; Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany Bloom Gallery, curated by Corinne Groot, Amsterdam, Holland Eau de Cologne 1983 - 1993", Galerie Monica Spruth, Koln, Germany "Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?" Galerie Jennifer Flay, Paris, France Galerie Walcheturm, Zurich, Switzerland "Le Principe de Realite", Villa Arson, Nice, France "Stoned", curated by Veralyn Behenna, Ruth Bloom Gallery, Santa Monica, CA “Informationsdienst", Art Acker, Berlin, Germany "Travelogue-Reisetagebuch", curated by Jackie McCallister, Hochschule fur Angewandte Kunst in Wien, Vienna, Austria "Spielholle", curated by Kasper Konig and Robert Fleck, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz, Austria, Galerie Sylvia Lorenz, Paris, France "Privacy", curated by Gianni Romano, Documentario, Milano, Italy "Whitney Biennial", Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY |
| 1992 |
"Spielholle", curated by Kasper Konig and Robert Fleck, Akadamie der Kunste "Under 30", Galerie Metropol, Wein, Austria "Through the Viewfinder", Stichting de Appel, Amsterdam, Holland "Translation", curated by Kim Levin, Center for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland "LifeSize", Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Prato, Italy "Post-Human", curated by Jeffrey Deitch, FAE Musee D'Art Contemporain, Lausanne, Switzerland; Castello di Rivoli, Museo d'Arte, Contemporanea, Rivoli, Italy; Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece; Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany "Tatoo Collection", Air de Paris, Paris, France "Molteplici Culture", curated by Liam Gilllick, Rome, Italy "True Stories", ICA, London, England "Are You A Boy, or Are You A Girl?” curated by Cary Leibowitz, Real Artways, Hartford, CT "The Real Thing", New York, NY "Video project - 12 weeks, 12 artists", Dooley le Cappelaine, New York, NY "Works on Paper", Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, NY "New Work by Gallery Artists," 303 Gallery, New York, NY “Small-Medium-Large Lifesize”, Museo d’arte contemporanea, Prato "Karen Kilimnik, Raymond Pettibon, & Allen Ruppersberg," 303 Gallery, New York, NY “Informationsdienst”, Kunstlerhaus, Stuttgart |
| 1991 |
"The Store," Richard/Bennett Gallery, Los Angeles, CA "Gulliver's Travels," Galerie Sophia Ungers, Koln, Germany "Home for June", Contemporary Theatre & Art, 44 Walker St, New York, NY "No Man's Time", Villa Arson, Nice, France "When Objects Dream And Talk In Their Sleep", Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, NY "Karen Kilimnik, Liz Larner, Collier Schorr, Anne Walsh", Richard Kuhlenschmidt Gallery, Santa Monica, CA "Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?” curated by Dan Cameron, The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY "Louder", curated by Kathryn Hixon, Gallery 400, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL "Plastic Fantastic Lover (object a)", curated by Catherine Liu, Blum Helman Warehouse, New York, NY John Armleder Stand, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland “Residue Politics", Beaver College Art Gallery, Glenside PA Xmas Show, Air de Paris, Nice, France |
| 1990 |
“Karen Kilimnik, Sue Williams, Gavin Brown”, 303 Gallery, New York, NY "Stuttering,” curated by Vic Muniz, Stux Gallery, New York, NY "Work in Progress? Work?," Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1989 |
American Fine Arts Co., New York, NY Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1986 |
Nexus Foundation for Today's Art, Philadelphia, PA |
A major focus for Kilimnik is the blending of real and imagined portraiture. In her iconic paintings, modern pop-cultural icons are inserted into composed historical overtures, resulting in an enchanted kind of unreality. Kilimnik traffics in the creation of reciprocal allegories, whereby the malleable personas of her actors are subjected to perpetually reversing roles. Becoming illustrations for the cloudy vagueness of a romanticized past, the role of the human subject is diminished, drawing attention to the fabricated nature of time and place in the creation of her arcane historical scenarios. Early drawings and self-portrait photographs with references to modeling, fashion advertisements and the cult of celebrity reinforce these preoccupations with the fluid nature of identity. Kilimnik’s connection to the resonant psychological power of ornamental objects and words is an undercurrent throughout these works, as we find snippets of abandoned flowers, ribbons, patches of sky or chunks of slogans inserted wholesale into various pieces of her oeuvre.
