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