Art First is delighted to present this exhibition by Kate McCrickard, with ceramicist Marisol Jacquemot-Derode.
Inspired by Parisian life in a post covid world, McCrickard’s urban subjects are vibrant and beautifully observed. ‘New Romantics’ explores scenes from her local cafés and bars, or on the streets, where Goths and Punks gather curiously on corners, and there are also domestic tableaux featuring family feasts, and imagined scenes based on the artist’s fugitive drawings lifted constantly from real life. In an unusual collaboration, Jacquemot-Derode’s sculptural, gorgeous vessels are made in response to McCrickard’s paintings as ‘Ceramic Counterpoints’.
“In my paintings I avoid depth of field and look for the balance of an animated line drawn in paint that works like a lariat around and through passages of tone. I often think of Bonnard and his images of people who aren't really doing anything. Mine are active, but his dictum that it is not a matter of painting life, but a matter of giving life to painting – is one I hold dear.”
“The characters roaming across the paintings nearly always have a real person behind them that has been sketched from life. The prostitute is a lady with a sheet of black hair who comes to the café next door for her morning espresso with her ‘client’ at the same time every day. The jump from that rapid line sketch to a large oil painting leaves a huge gulf to be filled by imagination and memory, however, and I’d like to avoid types, but if not painting with a model in front of you, we all fall into painting types, so I would say rather a ‘portrait of a drinker’ for example, or a ’portrait of a goth’. Types that I hope we all might recognise.”
The images presented are oils on linen, drawings, offset drawings worked up as monoprints with hand painted sections, and new dry point editions.
McCrickard was awarded an MA Honours Degree in Fine Art at the University of Edinburgh in 1998, and for 4 years was a Director of David Krut Projects in New York. She now lives and works in Paris, where she continues to write and to review, alongside her studio practice. In 2010 her monograph on William Kentridge was published by Tate.
Work is held in the British Museum, the Royal Scottish Academy, The New York Central Library, the Metropolitan Museum, the Los Angeles County Art Museum, and in collections worldwide.
An illustrated online catalogue accompanies this exhibition.
MARISOL JACCQUEMOT-DERODE
Art First is delighted to be working with Marisol. Her new sculptural, sumptuous pieces in richly glazed earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain have emerged as a response to the paintings for New Romantics by her co-exhibitor, Kate McCrickard,
"Clay is a funny thing, quite like children. It never totally does what you thought it would, so you learn to appreciate the qualities of the end result. I sometimes wonder if a vessel being a different colour, split or broken in the firing, is not ultimately the outcome the work was destined for, rather than the initial idea that I had in mind. With clay, nothing is set because it is alive. Trying to tame clay is a constant challenge and always an adventure".
After studying at the École du Louvre and the Marquetry Restoration School in Paris, Marisol worked in the film industry as an outfitter, before moving to Washington DC. Here she sourced mid- century furniture, fostering her interior design skills and interest in architecture while also painting to commission.
She began to work with sculpture and clay while raising her family when she moved to London. She was mentored initially by Chris Bramble and she now has two kilns, one in London and a second in France, allowing her to work in both countries at different times of year.
Exhibitions include ‘In aid of Women for Women International with Anne Singer at Tomasz Starzewski showroom (2020); Private exhibition with Rachel Shaw Ashton (2018); Seeing Beyond in aid of Breast Cancer Haven at the Piers Feetham Gallery (2017); the Chelsea Art Society Show, - award winner in 2015 – and she was also an award winner at The London Potters Exhibition in 2014 and 2016.
Jacquemot-Derode donates 10% from all sales to charities that support women or matters related to women.
For all enquiries, price lists or to make an appointment, contact [email protected]
KATE MCCRICKARD: New Romantics & MARISOL JACQUEMOT-DERODE Ceramic Counterpoints | press release
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