Katherine Bernhardt

잡지에 등장하는 패션 모델들을 재표현한 초상화로 미술계의 주목을 이끈 캐서린 번하드(b. 1975)는 과감한 색채와 일상 오브제들의 추상적 전개로 구성된 “패턴 페인팅(pattern paintings)” 을 발전시켜왔다. 번하드는 모로코산 러그, 아프리카 텍스타일 디자인, 그래피티 기법을 영감의 원천으로 삼아 작가 특유의 시각적 언어를 선보인다. 특히 휴지, 농구공, 도리토스 과자, 담배, 커피, 패스트 푸드, 과일 등을 포함한 오늘날의 진부한 소비문화 상징물에 작가만의 활기를 불어넣는 새로운 이미지로 창조해낸다. 가필드, 핑크 팬더, E.T, 스머프 와 같은 오랜 대중문화 아이콘들 또한 작가의 주요 소재이다. 번하드는 이러한 이질적인 요소들을 모아 더욱 간결하면서도 독특하게 병치하는 동시에 거친 붓터치로 빠르게 표현함으로써 색다른 조합을 구성한다. 커다란 캔버스를 힘차게 가로지르는 형형색색의 오브제들은 어린아이 짓궂은 장난을 연상시키고, 확장된 이미지를 채운 화면 색면들은 추상화의 한 부분처럼 보이기도 한다. 이와 같이 번하드는 우리의 현대 문화를 상징하는 오브제들에 남다른 안목을 투영하여, 고정된 인식을 깨고 보다 넓은 시각으로 일상을 바라보게 한다.

Since drawing attention to the contemporary art scene with her portraits of fashion models, Katherine Bernhardt (b.1975) has conducted visual experiments with "pattern paintings," presenting everyday objects in semi-abstract compositions and bright colors. Influenced by Moroccan Berber rugs, African textile designs, and graffiti, the artist develops her visual language with unique pictorial techniques. Through her fascination with ordinary items including toilet paper, baseballs, Doritos, cigarettes, coffee, fast foods, and fruits, Bernhardt recreates new characters that are unusual and joyful compared to their original forms. Nostalgic pop icons such as Garfield, Pink Panther, E.T., and Smurf are also her typical subjects. Combining these disparate motifs within one canvas, Bernhardt playfully maximizes her exuberant pictorial plans with simple, yet unique juxtaposition and vibrant brush strokes. Her vigorous gestures not only evoke the humors of children’s pranks but also elements of abstract painting. By projecting her extraordinary perspectives in symbolic objects of contemporary life and culture, Bernhardt leads us to think outside of the box to experience a wider spectrum of our daily lives.

Born in 1975; Clayton, Missouri, USA

Lives and works in New York, USA 

Education 

2000  MFA School of Visual Arts, NY, NY 

1998  BFA School of the Art Institute of Chicago

            NYU Summer Intensive Program

            International School of Art in Umbria

Selected Solo Shows 

2020 

Embajada, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Carl Freedman Gallery, New York, USA

Done with Xanax, CANADA, New York, USA 

2019
Garfield on Scotch Tape, Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium

Art Omi, New York, USA

NANZUKA, Tokyo, Japan

2018

Green, CANADA, New York, USA

Watermelon World, Mario Testino Museum (MATE), Lima, Peru

2017

Concrete Jungle Jungle Love, Lever House, New York, USA

Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth, USA

Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, USA

2016

Product Recall: New Pattern Paintings, Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium

Selected Group Shows 

2020

We Fight To Build a Free World: An Exhibition by Jonathan Horowitz, The Jewish Museum, New York, USA

2019 

Feel the Sun in Your Mouth, Hirsshorn Museum, Washington D.C, USA

2018

SHANZINI: Shannon Michael Cane and Printed Matter, Printed Matter, New York, USA

Pizza is God, NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

2017
Feed the Meter Vol. II, Ceysson & Bénétière, Wandhaff, Luxembourg

Animal Farm, The Brant Foundation, Greenwich, USA

A New Subjectivity: Figurative Painting after 2000, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, USA

Public Collections

Alberto de la Cruz Foundation, Tao Baja, Puerto Rico

Brant Foundation, Greenwich, CT, USA

Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Hall Art Foundation, Reading, VT, USA

High Museum, Atlanta, GA, USA

Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC, USA

Mohammad and Mahera Abu Ghazaleh Foundation, Amman, Jordan

Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME, USA

Rubell Collection, Miami, FL, USA

San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX, USA

Sandretto Foundation, Torino, Italy