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Massey Klein Gallery is pleased to present A Thief With No Loot, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Kate McQuillen on view until April 1st. A Thief With No Loot presents new paintings by Kate McQuillen that explore the transfer of ideas across time. Drawing from a wide range of influences, and coaxing images from specific source material, the artist creates works that firmly establish their own situational reality rather than acting as easily identifiable depictions of figures and scenes. McQuillen’s paintings speak for themselves and create endless intangible and fleeting moments for the viewer to recognize and reminisce while simultaneously forgetting and misregistering.
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The creation of Slow-Talking Heroine was inspired by the straightforward delivery of the lyrics of Florence Shaw of Dry Cleaning and Shalita Dietrich of Lewsberg.
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I’m often seeking the feeling of an image just appearing, being slightly in motion, or in progress of developing. Visual elements in my work can have a feeling of an emulsion, others appear like light leaks, and the smooth surface beneath the layers of acrylic bounces light back at the viewer. In my process, when the squeegee passes over my water marks, it captures what is there in one instantaneous stroke. It feels similar to the snap of the shutter, or the reeling of film. Each piece is a combination of layers of these strokes, each one carrying its own thin layer of information.
In a 1999 interview between Werner Herzog and Roger Ebert, Herzog spoke about recreating poor-quality film shot by his brother by projecting it onto a fabric and shooting from the other direction. He said he was like "a thief without loot,” coaxing images out from the influences and materials of others, and having images appear to him, which then became his to take. Images may be immaterial, but they are also prizes. Throughout the making of the show A Thief With No Loot, I became enamored with two disparate topics: Greek Attic Vases and the films of Werner Herzog. This title alludes to his own reliance on his artistic heroes, and mine on him.
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Kate McQuillen
Ajax and Achilles Field, 2022In this piece, McQuillen seeks to create a color field for Ajax and Achilles with a sense of deep space, epic time, and incremental transitions. At the top, a moiré pattern, somewhat reminiscent of a repeating Greek meander pattern, hovers within the yellow.
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Kate McQuillen
Hero Worship, 2022Acrylic on panel
43 x 45 inches
44.25 x 46.25 inches framed -
A vertical band of scraped and scratched green runs from top to bottom. A negative form, reminiscent of the torso of a broken Greek statue, floats in the upper left corner. Diagonal from the torso is an ambiguous form: perhaps another figure? This painting is lighter and more delicate, hanging beneath a cluster of yellow dust that vibrates against a warm blue, giving a feeling of cool, sparking lightning.
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Kate McQuillen
Kylix, 2022Kylix are a type of ancient Greek drinking vessels that were painted with eyes on the bottom. When drinking from them, the eyes would align with the face of the person, also acting like a mask. The image feels quick and fleeting, and uses terra cotta and cyan hues reminiscent of earth and sky. Each panel has a slightly different visual treatment, though they are paired together; the multi-panel works of Joan Mitchell, which do not always have a clear alignment or passage of marks across panels, are of interest to the artist.
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Kate McQuillen: A Thief with No Loot
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Kate McQuillen
Hero Worship, 2022Acrylic on panel
43 x 45 inches
44.25 x 46.25 inches framed -
Kate McQuillen
Dust Up, 2022Acrylic on panel
52 x 46 in
132.1 x 116.8 cm -
Kate McQuillen
Four to Three, 2022Acrylic on panel
90 x 72 in
228.6 x 182.9 cm -
Kate McQuillen
Ajax and Achilles Field, 2022Acrylic on panel
52 x 46 inches
53.25 x 47.25 inches framed -
Kate McQuillen
Slow-Talking Heroine, 2022Acrylic on panel
45 x 43 inches
46.25 x 44.25 inches framed -
Kate McQuillen
Eight Ball Corner Pocket, 2022Acrylic on panel
56 x 48 in
142.2 x 121.9 cm -
Kate McQuillen
Kylix, 2022Acrylic on panel
36 x 48 inches
37.25 x 25.25 inches framed, each
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Image Credit: Exekias Amphora, Achilles and Ajax Engaged in a Game, c. 530 BC. Vatican Museums, Vatican.
Interview Credit: Herzog, Werner. Interview. Conducted by Roger Ebert. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN. 1999.
Kate McQuillen: A Thief with No Loot: Gallery Exhibition February 3 - April 1, 2024
Current viewing_room