Katy Moran
15 January–8 March 2015
Preview: Wednesday 14 January, 6:30–9pm
Parasol unit
14 Wharf Road
London N1 7RW
T +44 20 7490 7373
info [at] parasol-unit.org
Katy Moran’s solo exhibition at Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is the artist’s first major solo show in a public institution in London and focuses on her first decade of artistic practice.
Although her gestural and evocative paintings may appear to be abstract, Moran herself is invariably concerned with the figurative. For her, ideas arise out of the process of painting. She works with the paint, consciously and subconsciously preserving and rejecting marks until she considers their energy to be right. To lose attachment to any figurative referent that may have appeared too soon in the process, Moran will often turn a canvas and work on it from different perspectives, continuing to paint until every part of it works. In this way, she achieves a fluidity across the surface that looks as if it were always meant to be just so. Moran remains constantly alert to the unconscious opportunities of chance and time, which she tempers with conscious control, skill and knowledge to make paintings that are intensely and richly powerful.
The earlier paintings in this exhibition tend to be loosely gestural with dynamic brushstrokes alive with painted energy and subtly rich colours. Although her later works seem more structured and detailed, often with added elements of collage, they nonetheless abound with the “energy” she demands of all her marks. Within the modest scale of Moran’s paintings she achieves a remarkable concentration of energy that never fails to thrill viewers. Then there is the pleasure of seeking out the figurative imagery so tantalizingly hinted at in their intriguing titles.
Born 1975, in Manchester, Moran now lives and works in London.
Curated by Ziba Ardalan, Founder/Director of Parasol unit, this exhibition is accompanied by a publication printed in a full-colour limited edition of 500 hand-numbered copies, a limited edition print, along with an educational events programme of related talks, children and family workshops, a poetry workshop and youth projects.
For further information, please contact Kirsteen Cairns: Press & Marketing Coordinator: kirsteen [at] parasol-unit.org
Visitor information
Founded in December 2004, Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is a registered educational charity and a not-for-profit institution that operates purely for the public benefit. Every year the foundation organises four challenging and thought-provoking exhibitions of works by international contemporary artists working in various media, arranges other artistic projects and each year grants its Exposure Award, which offers graduating student/s from an annually selected London art school the opportunity to exhibit their work professionally. The foundation also engages with the public and its neighbouring community through a full programme of educational events. In its genuine mission to serve the public, the foundation does not bear the name of its founder, and its exhibitions do not derive from any particular private collection. Admission to all exhibitions at Parasol unit is free of charge. Thanks to its innovative model between private funding and public support, one of London’s most vibrant contemporary art spaces has come to exist and thrive.
