Katherine
Lee's second solo show at Eight
Modern, following last year's exhibition of her "Brazil
Series" paintings, reflects a significant change in the work of
the versatile 25-year-old artist. The 31 drawings that comprise
Animal Violence and Topless Women Eating Jam represent a
significant depar ture from
her painted works, not only in medium and style but in subject
matter as well.
The
studied mastery of her craft, the freshness of approach and the
iconoclastic attitude towards artistic tropes that g ave the
unpeopled environments of Lee's Exterior paintings such
affective power are still present in her drawings. However, the
works in Animal Violence are grotesque and messily visceral,
purposefully perverse and imbued with a gruesome wit.
"People
are nothing if not violent and naked," Lee states. "I am of the
belief that man will never be able to transcend these aspects of
himself and thus perpetuates his own disappointment and doom in
trying. Most of this work is based on the unhappy ending (you know
- she dies, because she does, because life is like
that). There is a beauty in embracing that horror." When asked
about the origins of her exhibition title, Lee says "The pairing
came about from two separate strings of association that collided
at some point. Topless women eating jam are charming in a guilty
kind of way. Animal violence was a phrase my brother used once,
years ago, and since then I have never been able to get it out of
my head." Whatever her inspirations, the artist has always openly
disavowed interest in conveying messages.
"A work is
successful not because of what it's about but because of how it is
executed," Lee says. "Nude women and violence don't really mean
anything specific to me, but I recognize that as subject matter,
they function as beauty and drama."
A Santa Fe
resident, Lee was born and raised in Iowa. She received her B.F.A.
from the College of Santa Fe in 2008. Over the past
six years, she has participated in numerous group shows and juried
exhibitions.
More
work from Katherine Lee:
www.eightmodern.net