Katarzyna Coleman

Described in cool washes of blues and greys, Katarzyna finds a magical appeal in the rhythmic forms of warehouses, silos and factories, some abandoned, others shining in their galvanised severity.

This quite significant area of Great Yarmouth is a surprising contrast to the 'kiss me quick' seaside resort aesthetic associated with its role as a popular holiday destination that can be found five minutes away, along the beach. It is in South Denes that boat building goes on, skips are rented out, metal fabrication happens on an industrial scale.
Her canvases are largely devoid of all this activity and indeed outside of the working week, these streets are empty of people, cars and trucks so that they take on a cinematic quality. The blank slab sides of industrial installations dramatically slice any available light, describing and transforming the utilitarian nature of her subjects profiles so they appear like film sets, after the final scene of the movie has been shot and everyone has gone home.
Katarzyna works from studies made on site from multiple view points, while she seeks a convincing visual shorthand for the structure that she is attracted to. The observational nature of her work is a part of the process, not the objective. While observed from life, her careful editing out of transitory features and layered painting process allow her to take the subject matter beyond the purely visual and toward more internal moments of reflection. The resulting paintings and works on paper exude an emotional strength and quiet complexity.

 

EDUCATION

1982-1983        Manchester College of Art:  MA Fine Art
1979-1982        Hornsey College Art: BA Hons 2:1
1978-79            Wimbledon College Art,  Foundation Studies

SELECTED SOLO AND SMALL GROUP SHOWS
2020                    A Fine Balance, Houghton Hall, alongside Anish Kapoor

2019                    Contemporary and Country, Art Fair East

2019                    Port to Port, Fermoy Gallery, Kings Lynn
2019                    Houghton Hall Pop Up, alongside Henry Moore (C&C)

2019                    Pear Tree Farm, Suffolk
2018                    Mandells Gallery, Norwich solo
2016                    Merchant House Gallery, Lowestoft solo
2015                    Mandells Gallery, Norwich, solo
2015                   ‘Reality’ Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2014                   ‘Reality’ Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
2013                   Merchant House Gallery, Lowestoft, solo
2011                   Haus Metternich, Koblensk,
2010                  ‘Gaze’ Mandells Gallery, Norwich
2009                  Theatre Royal, Norwich solo
2009                  Chappel Galleries, Essex ‘Look Again’
2008                  Dimbola Lodge, Isle of Wight solo
2008                  ‘Five’, Out There International Festival
2004/07            Malaposka Galeria Sztuki, Poland        
2006                 ‘Overlooked’ Ferry House, Great Yarmouth                        
2004                 New Cut, Halesworth solo
2004                 Wembley Point, London solo            
            
SELECTED  GROUP EXHJIBITIONS
2019                 Norfolk by Design, Houghton Hall
2005/08           Norwich Castle Open Art Show

2012/18           Norwich Castle Open Art Show
2008/10/12     NCAS, Forum, Norwich – winner 2012
2014/16           NCAS, Forum, Norwich – winner 2012
2007                 Salthouse 07
       
PUBLICATIONS
2018  ‘Darkness’ Cultural history by Nina Edwards, Reaktion Books
2017 ‘The Nameless Places’ Poetry collection by Richard Lambert, Arc Publications
2014 'Reality: Modern and Contemporary British Painting', Exhibition Catalogue, SCVA
2004 NOMI, 4/39/2004, St. Petersburg, www.worldart.ruk