KATHERINE BERNHARDT | NIKE + A CIGARETTE

Carl Freedman Gallery, London

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Katherine Bernhardt initially appeared on the artistic stage by way of portraits of fashion models and celebrities she pulled from magazines and advertisements in an exploration of popular culture. Her more recent works stand out for their patterns, bright colors and mingling of everyday items on large-scale canvases. “They’re just good colors and shapes,” Bernhardt says. “Look at a sock: it’s got really good colors, white with red and blues stripes. Toilet paper is a squarish oval. A cigarette is a line. A dorsal fin is a triangle and so is a Dorito,” (Kerr, Dylan, “The Best Painters Don’t Intellectualize Their Art”, interview with Katherine Bernhardt, 19 September 2015).

Bernhardt’s focus is primarily related to vibrating associations between contrasting objects, inspired by Dutch wax printing on African fabrics. This aesthetic fascination extends to a business Bernhardt maintains which imports Berbere rugs from Morocco. 

Bernhardt has held solo exhibitions of her work at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the St. Louis Contemporary Art Museum, as well as in various galleries. She presently lives and works in New York.