For immediate release Kate Shepherd
Wall, Floor, Rocky Crag

February 6 – March 20, 2004

Mystery, elegance and graceful invention coincide in paintings and an installation in Kate Shepherd’s second solo show at Galerie Lelong. Kate Shepherd’s exhibition, titled Wall, Floor, Rocky Crag, will open to the public on Friday, February 6, from 6 to 8 P.M. The artist will be present at the opening.

The viewer’s metaphorical and physical experiences of place are a constant investigation in Shepherd’s work. Split surfaces and multiple panels are the formal structure for her paintings, which permit us to experience the disjunction between the physical parts – edge to edge and from floor to wall – as well as permit us to contemplate the more psychological nuances of edge and affect. Shepherd’s paintings are stripped of all but the essentials - fields of luminous color, a penetrating and nimble line, and the resonance of the charge of memory within interior spaces. Subtle shifts of scale are one of the hallmarks of Shepherd’s paintings. The paintings in this exhibition are Shepherd’s largest to date. Though they are almost mural-sized, they never lose their feeling of intimacy and humanity.

The exhibition will also include a new site responsive installation including an overall frieze painting stenciled directly on the wall, which completely encirclse one room in the gallery. Like the paintings, these walls are suggestive of the hidden. Their floral patterns, however, reminiscent of high Victoriana, richly mirror themselves (violet on brown / brown on violet) and in doing so present a marked contrast to the restrained, majestic paintings in the gallery. Framed drawings which echo the structure of the paintings are placed on these hand-stenciled walls.

The ensemble of paintings and wall installation in Shepherd’s exhibition Wall, Floor, Rocky Crag, is a tour de force of form and content. These subtle and enigmatic paintings establish her voice and her hand as one of the most refined and original in contemporary painting today.

Kate Shepherd has exhibited in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Paris. Her last exhibition, Kate Shepherd- This place, for example, took place at Galerie Lelong Paris in March 2003 and was accompanied by a catalogue authored by Barry Schwabsky.

Gallery hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.

Contact: Robin Park 212 315-0470 [email protected]

Forthcoming Exhibition:
Rosemary Laing one dozen unnatural disasters in the Australian landscape
Opening March 25, 2004