Karla Black
Karla Black is a Scottish sculptor who creates abstract three-dimensional artworks that explore the physicality of materials as a way of understanding and communicating the world around us.
In 2011, Black was nominated for the Turner Prize[1] and also represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale.[2] Black's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at a number of international venues such as Modern Art Oxford and Kunsthalle Nurnberg, Germany.
Black is represented by Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London and Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan, Italy.
Early life and education
Black was born 1972 in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire and studied Sculpture at The Glasgow School of Art from 1995 to 1999.[3] From there, Black gained an MPhil in Art in Organisational Contexts from the year 1999 to 2000, as well as an MFA in fine arts from 2002 to 2004.[4]
Artistic style
Black uses mostly traditional art-making materials such as plaster, paint, paper and chalk in her work, along with a small amount of substances such as cosmetics and toiletries. Her sculptures are either 'almost' or 'only just' objects and skirt the mediums of sculpture, painting, performance art and installation, often juxtaposing large scale with a fragility of form.
Black utilises and plays with the physical properties of a wide array of materials, which she seeks to use in an aesthetically pleasing, yet raw and unformed way. Although Black identifies as a sculptor, her use of everyday matter mixed with traditional art materials works to expand the parameters of sculpture. According to Black, her works exists and operates as "almost painting, almost installation, almost performance art."[5] Artists who have influenced her work include Helen Frankenthaler, Karen Kilimnick, Lynda Benglis, Robert Smithson and Richard Tuttle.
Black cites the influence of psychoanalytical theory on her work: she has a particular interest in the writings of Melanie Klein (1882–1960) who pioneered early developments in child psychology. Black has said: "The sculptures are rooted in Psychoanalysis and Feminism; in theories about the violent and sexual underpinnings of both individual mental mess, as in neuroses and psychosis, and the formlessness of specific points in art history, i.e. German and Abstract Expressionism, Viennese Actionism, Land Art, Anti-form and Feminist Performance."[6]
In one of Black's pieces entitled "Made to Wait" (2009), a cellophane sheet is seen floating as an invisible screen with a band of paint and other cosmetic products are smeared over it, covering its lower half. According to the Guggenheim, this piece is "elusive and stable" while "the work is grounded in its materiality as a physical experience and resists any metaphorical or symbolic meaning."[7]
Exhibitions
Karla Black's artwork has been in solo exhibitions at institutions such as the Kestnergesellschaft in Hanover, Germany; the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia; the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague; the Dallas Museum of Art; and the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow. Black represented Scotland at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011.[8]
Selected Solo Exhibitions[9]
2021
- Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (forthcoming)
2020
- "Karla Black: 20 Years", Des Moines Art Centre, Des Moines, IA, USA
2019
- Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt
- Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne, Germany
2018
- The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada
- Capitain Petzel, Berlin, Germany
2017
- Modern Art, London
- Le Festival d’Automne à Paris, Palais des Beaux-Arts / Musée des Archives Nationales, Paris, France
- Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium
2016
- "Principles of Admitting", Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland
- Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan, Italy
- David Zwirner, New York, NY, USA
- Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne, Germany
2015
- Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin, Ireland
2014
- Modern Art, London
- Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan, Italy
- David Zwirner, New York, NY, USA
2013
- Kestnergesellschaft, Hanover, Germany
- Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA Gemeente Museum, The Hague, Netherlands
- Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne, Germany
2012
- Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, USA
- Modern Art, London
- Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow
- Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, Germany
2011
- "Karla Black", Scotland and Venice, 54th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
2010
- Capitain Petzel, Berlin, Germany
- Wittman Collection, Ingolstadt, Germany
- "Ten Sculptures", Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany
2009
- "Karla Black: Sculptures with paintings by Bet Low" (1924-2007), Inverleith House, Edinburgh
- Modern Art Oxford, Oxford
- Kunstverein Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland
- Mary Mary, Glasgow
2008
- "Champagne Perrier-Jouët Prize (Winner 2007)", Zoo Art Fair, London
- "Catch This: New Works from the Arts Council Collection", Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
- West London Projects, London
- Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne, Germany
2007
- IBID Projects, London
2006
- Galerie Sandra Buergel, Berlin, Germany
- Mary Mary, Glasgow
- Outpost, Norwich
- "Have Him Be Her", Broadway 1602, New York, NY, USA
2004
- Mary Mary, Glasgow
2002
- Robert, Glasgow Project Room, Glasgow
Selected Collections[10]
- Arts Council Collection, London
- Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
- Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, USA
- David Roberts Art Foundation, London
- EVN Collection, Maria Enzersdorf, Austria
- Gemeente Museum Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands
- Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Lafayette Anticipations, Paris, France
- Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland
- RISD Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, USA Saatchi Gallery, London
- Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA
- Southbank Centre, London
- Tate, London
Publications
- Karla Black (2010), Karla Black: It's Proof That Counts, JRP/Ringier, ISBN 978-3-03764-084-5
- Karla Black: ten sculptures, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, 2010.
- Briony Fer, Karla Black – Brains Are Really Everything, Scotland + Venice 2011, 4 June – 27 November 2011, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
- Susanne Figner and Barry Schwabsky, Karla Black, Walther Konig, Koln, 2014.
- Kate Kraczon, Karla Black: Practically in Shadow, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, 2015.
- Karla Black & Kishio Suga: A New Order, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2017.
References
- ^ Tate. "Turner Prize 2011 – Exhibition at Other Venue". Tate. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ^ "Karla Black – collateral event of the 54th Venice Biennale". e-flux.com. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ "Karla Black". National Galleries of Scotland. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ "Karla Black". National Galleries of Scotland. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ "Karla Black". National Galleries of Scotland. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ^ Tate. "'At Fault', Karla Black, 2011". Tate. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ "Collection Online Karl Black". Guggenheim. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ "Karla Black at the Venice Biennale: 'Don't call my art feminine'". The Guardian. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ^ "Biography | Karla Black". Modern Art. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ^ "Biography | Karla Black". Modern Art. Retrieved 2 September 2020.