KATHRYN MACNAUGHTON
Canadian artist Kathryn MacNaughton deftly interweaves figurative painting with a combination of abstract expressionism, geometric abstraction, and even conventions of the painted still-life into one poetic statement. These forms of figuration and still life have been flattened, like their more abstract counterparts, to face the frontal plane of the canvas. The canvas, and the analogue process of the painter’s hand, references the computer screen and the digital touch, where these pieces begin to take their shape.
She states: “I wanted my digital work to look raw and handmade. Now that I create ‘physical’ paintings, I want to give the illusion that the work is digital”. MacNaughton, who trained and worked as a graphic designer, uses this ‘digital compression’ to her advantage, and one begins to use typically post-analogue language when discussing her work: masking, layering, colour-blocking, silhouette. These concepts are paired with more Romantic expressive movements: a scribble dances across a bust, outlined in silhouette, guiding the viewer’s eye around the flattened curves as one guides the finger across a map.
The work simultaneously houses a sensuality one aligns with gender tropes: suggestions of feminine curves play shadow-tricks, appearing as vessels or curtains that guide the eye, but also obscure and reveal the picture plane while painterly splatters leap behind and before the picture plane. But also, the masculine, referencing brutalist and Modernist architecture: the austerity and monolithic qualities of shape, form, and line. We see references from Robert Morris to Georgia O’Keefe; Diebenkorn to DiChirico. There is a sense of theatricality to her revelations, a cheeky play of light and dark versus form and technique – an art of individual, delicate mastery.
KATHRYN MACNAUGHTON (b. 1985, Toronto, Canada) lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal. She graduated from Ontario College of Art and Design in 2007.
Solo exhibitions include: Moving Parts, Presented by BEERS London, Saatchi Gallery, London (2023); Ripened Fruit, Bau-XI Gallery, Toronto, Canada (2023); Passages, MAGMA Gallery, Bologna, Italy (2023); Past Pleasures, Galería Pelaires, Mallorca, Spain (2022); Full Body, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, Canada (2022); Into the Groove, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, Canada (2021); Heatwave, BEERS London (2020); Intervals, BEERS London (2018); Fixed State, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto (2018); Sprang, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto (2016); and Blue Note, Huntclub Gallery, Toronto (2015).
Group exhibitions include: Island Time, Volery Gallery, Dubai (2022); Organized Chaos, Magma Gallery, Bologna, Italy (2019); Pour, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York (2019); Your Favourite Artist’s Favourite Artist II, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York (2019); Dualities: A Bridge Between Two Worlds, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto (2017); SMASH, Gardiner Museum, Toronto (2016); and The One That Got Away, Artscape Youngplace, Toronto (2015).
Art Fairs include: Feria Arco with Galería Pelaires, Madrid, Spain (2023); Future Fair New York, BEERS London, New York (2022). Residencies include: Pada Studios, Lisbon (2019). Macnaughton’s work has been featured in publications such as Elle Magazine, District-W Magazine, and The Coveteur.
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FAMILY & FRIENDS
30 Nov - 20 Dec 2023Our final exhibition of 2023 brings together existing and longstanding gallery artists (Hyangmok Baik, Jonni Cheatwood, Deborah Segun) alongside those whose solo exhibitions begin in 2024: including Liam Alvy, Jack Kabangu, Tang Shuo, and Christina Zimpel. Also exhibiting in the group show are a slate of fresh new perspectives, including Peter Larsen, Zoe Spowage, Hannah Wilson and more. The purpose of this exhibition is to introduce new artists into our roster amidst the artists whose practices we have championed for some time. We anticipate an exciting mix to present to our friends, collectors, and followers.Read more -
KATHRYN MACNAUGHTON & MISHA MILOVANOVICH: MOVING PARTS @ SAATCHI GALLERY
15 Nov 2023 - 7 Jan 2024This exhibition is a collaboration between BEERS London & Saatchi Gallery. Please note that this exhibition is taking place at Saatchi Gallery located at Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Road, London, SW3 4RY.Read more -
KATHRYN MACNAUGHTON: HEATWAVE
11 Sep - 10 Oct 2020Just prior to the international lockdown that saw millions working from home, Toronto-based, Canadian artist Kathryn MacNaughton secured a bright new studio with large windows where she created her newest...Read more -
SUMMER SALON
27 Jul - 25 Aug 2018BEERS London’s Summer Salon brings together a collection of works by gallery represented artists for those sleepy days over the summer. Presenting a combination of new, never exhibited, as well...Read more
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KATHRYN MACNAUGHTON: INTERVALS
8 Jun - 21 Jul 2018BEERS London proudly presents Intervals, the first solo exhibition by Canadian artist Kathryn MacNaughton in the UK. MacNaughton begins her artistic process by creating digital compositions that are afterwards meticulously...Read more -
O CANADA!
7 Jul - 19 Aug 2017Participating Artists: FIONA ACKERMAN, ANDY DIXON, KIM DORLAND, SCOTT EVERINGHAM, THRUSH HOLMES, ERIN LOREE, ERIK OLSON, JUSTIN OGILVIE, ANDREW SALGADO, ANDREA WILLIAMSON & ETIENNE ZACK BEERS London is proud to...Read more
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Future Fair, New York
5 - 7 May 2022KATHRYN MACNAUGHTON (b. 1985, Toronto, Canada) lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal. She graduated from Ontario College of Art and Design in 2007. Solo exhibitions...Read more -
ZONA MACO
6 - 9 Feb 2019We are thrilled to be returning to Zona Maco 2019 for the third year for the sixteenth edition of the fair. This year, we will...Read more