Katherine Bernhardt

anonymous gallery, New York

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Talented, wild and prolific, Katherine Bernhardt is best recognized for her irreverent ability to transform banal objects into symbols of her eccentric universe. In taking a seemingly indiscriminate approach to her compositions–which are typically packed with Day-Glo washes of watermelons, cigarettes, toucans, coffee makers, Pink Panthers, and Nike swooshes–Bernhardt manifests an exuberantly cluttered collection of contemporary icons. Describing the omnivorous, unstoppable nature of her practice, gallerist Phil Grauer declared, “She’s like a fire you can’t put out." (Phil Grauer quoted in: Shannon Lee, "Why Katherine Bernhardt's Freewheeling Paintings Attract Collectors of All Kinds, Artsy, 18 May 2020) Further crowned by Jerry Saltz as “the female bad-boy” of contemporary art, Katherine Bernhardt’s boundless visual appetite has established her as one of the most energetic painters working today. (Jerry Saltz, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Bad-Boy Artists? There Have Been, of Course. But the Art World Has Refused to Recognize Them.", Vulture, 28 September 2015)

Watermelon, Basketballs, Popsicles, and Cigs from 2014 is a quintessential example of Bernhardt’s “pattern paintings,” as directly inspired by the graphic, two-dimensional illustrations featured on Moroccan rugs. Through her blunt yet lyrical approach to painting, Bernhardt’s canvases thrive without illusion, perspective, logical scale, or atmosphere. “They’re just good colors and shapes. Look at a sock: it’s got really good colors, white with red and blue stripes. Toilet paper is a squarish oval,” she has explained of her subjects. “A cigarette is a line. A dorsal fin is a triangle, and so is a Dorito.” Watermelon, Basketballs, Popsicles, and Cigs highlights some of Bernhardt’s most widely recognized symbolism, with the canvas serving as a joyful testimony to her innermost passions and personal obsessions.