Venice Biennale, Cathy Wilkes' solo exhibition at the Pavilion of Great Britain

Cathy Wilkes (Belfast, 1966) is the artist Britain has chosen to represent its national pavilion at the fifty-eighth Venice Biennale. In the pavilion space, Wilkes presents a new series of works, specially made for the solo exhibition that as its title simply bears the artist’s name. Wilkes’ objects were designed to be bathed in the natural light of the Venetian day, and the understated, undecorated space of the British pavilion was deemed the most suitable space for these works, which include baseless sculptural installations resting directly on the floor, paintings and prints.

Wilkes, in creating her works, experiments with all kinds of materials, and collects all kinds of objects: the end result is an accumulation of different ingredients that result in delicate and unexpected works that evoke an inner, intimate, almost spiritual dimension, and lead the audience to reflect on the nature of love and the co-presence of life and death. Cathy Wilkes’ works also meditate on the disappearance and dematerialization of life, but they are also symbolic of the author’s absence, so much so that none of the works in the exhibition has a title, and each of them also prompts the viewer to give his or her own interpretation, with a quest for direct involvement of the audience.

The exhibition is curated by Zoé Whitley, senior curator, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, and is in collaboration with Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow. Cathy Wilkes, born in Northern Ireland, lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland. Since the 1990s, the artist has been working on sculptural installations of deep and mysterious intensity, which often insist on the artist’s private life and lead to reasoning about how art can relate to her own experiences. Wilkes’ work is fine, intimate, autobiographical but at the same time universal.

The Pavilion of Great Britain is ranked second in the 2019 Biennale’s top ten national pavilions according to Finestre Sull’Arte. Read the full ranking here.

Cathy Wilkes, Untitled, detail (2019; tempera on linen canvas, 122 x 244 cm). Ph. Credit Cristiano Corte © British Council. Courtesy of the Artist, The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels.

Cathy Wilkes, Untitled, detail (2019; mixed media, dimensions variable). Ph. Credit Cristiano Corte © British Council. Courtesy of the Artist, The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels.

Pavilion of Great Britain. Ph. Credit Francesco Galli © La Biennale di Venezia

Pavilion of Great Britain. Ph. Credit Francesco Galli © La Biennale di Venezia

<img class="lazy" src="https://www.finestresullarte.info/Grafica/placeholder.jpg" data-src=’Venice Biennale, Cathy Wilkes’ solo exhibition at the Pavilion of Great Britain <p>It is <strong>Cathy Wilkes</strong> (Belfast, 1966) who is the artist that Great Britain has chosen to represent its national pavilion at the fifty-eighth Venice Biennale. In the pavilion space, Wilkes presents a new series of works, specially made for the solo exhibition that as its title simply bears the artist’s name. Wilkes’ objects were designed to be bathed in the natural light of the Venetian day, and the understated, undecorated space of the British pavilion was deemed the most suitable space for these works, which include baseless sculptural installations resting directly on the floor, paintings and prints. Wilkes, in creating her works, experiments with all kinds of materials, and collects all kinds of objects: the end result is an accumulation of different ingredients that result in delicate and unexpected works that evoke an inner, intimate, almost spiritual dimension, and lead the audience to reflect on the nature of love and the co-presence of life and death. Cathy Wilkes’ works also meditate on the disappearance and dematerialization of life, but they are also symbolic of the author’s absence, so much so that none of the works in the exhibition has a title, and each of them also prompts the viewer to give his or her own interpretation, with a quest for direct involvement of the audience. The exhibition is curated by Zoé Whitley, senior curator, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, and is in collaboration with Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow. Cathy Wilkes, born in Northern Ireland, lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland. Since the 1990s, the artist has been working on sculptural installations of deep and mysterious intensity, which often insist on the artist’s private life and lead to reasoning about how art can relate to her own experiences. Wilkes’ work is fine, intimate, autobiographical but at the same time universal. Cathy Wilkes, Untitled, detail (2019; tempera on linen canvas, 122 x 244 cm). Ph. Credit Cristiano Corte © British Council. Courtesy of the Artist, The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels. Cathy Wilkes, Untitled, detail (2019; mixed media, dimensions variable). Ph. Credit Cristiano Corte © British Council. Courtesy of the Artist, The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels. Pavilion of Great Britain. Ph. Credit Francesco Galli © La Biennale di Venezia. Pavilion of Great Britain. Ph. Credit Francesco Galli © La Biennale di Venezia Pavilion of Great Britain. Ph. Credit Finestre Sull’Arte. ’ alt=“Pavilion of Great Britain. Ph. Credit Finestre Sull’Arte ’ title=”Pavilion of Great Britain. Ph. Credit Finestre Sull’Arte " />

Pavilion of Great Britain. Ph. Credit Finestre Sull’Arte

Venice Biennale, Cathy Wilkes' solo exhibition at the Pavilion of Great Britain

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