I do paintings and drawings of cleaners and cleaning using austerity as a methodology. The motifs are derived from covert sketching in hospitals and developed from promotional photos. I use succinct gestural marks and limited palettes drawn from institutional decor and staff uniforms. I actively omit naturalistic flesh colours, portraying the people as literally part of the background.
I do paintings and drawings of cleaners and cleaning using austerity as a methodology. The motifs are derived from covert sketching in hospitals and developed from promotional photos. I use succinct gestural marks and limited palettes drawn from institutional decor and staff uniforms. I actively omit naturalistic flesh colours, portraying the people as literally part of the background.
The works are part social observation but also an allegory of painting and drawing (i.e. making marks). The brushstrokes echo the cleaning actions of swiping and scrubbing. The cleaner is shown as an archetype and as a stand-in for the artist.
I have a Painting B.A. from St Martin’s School of Art, and a Fine Art M.A. (distinction) from Sheffield Hallam. My artist’s books hare held in collections in the UK, EU and USA. I am reinvigorating my main practice as a painter with online mentoring from Turps Art School Correspondence Course. My practice is supported by an DYCP awardArts Council England, a-n Professional Development Bursary and YVAN MicroGrant
Katya Robin | b.1964 UK
www.instagram.com/katya.robin/ | www.KatyaRobinStudio.co.uk
contact: [email protected]
Selected Exhibitions
2019
PAINT 2019, PS Mirabel, Manchester UK
MICRO, Air Gallery, Altrincham UK.
Prosaic - painting survey, curated by Sean Williams & Bryan Eccleshall. Coterie Gallery, Rotherham UK
Art of Caring, St George's Hospital, London
2018
Self Actualisation, 2 person show with Lou Hazelwood, Bridlington Contemporary
Loss & Lucidity, curated by Diana Ali, Santa Ana, California, USA
Artists Film event, Bridlington Contemporary
The Floating Library, Minnesota
2016
Kippenberger Challenge (7.45 Books), Jan van Eyck Academie Maastricht; Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten Library, de Appel Library & Archive, Amsterdam
Shoddy, Leeds, Batley
COIN/ICON Penny Exchange, Museums Sheffield
Midlands Open, Tarpey Gallery, Derby
Unity, Yorkshire Arts Space
The Floating Library, Minnesota, L.A.
Library Interventions: Sharon Kivland, Leeds Art College Library, Chelsea School of Art Library
2015
2015 Hexopolis (solo), Pages Exhibition, Tetley, Leeds
The Editions II, Pages Exhibition, The Tetley, Leeds
The Floating Library, Minnesota
Kaleid2015, Printmaking in the expanded field, Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo
2014
The Editions I, Pages Exhibition, The Tetley, Leeds
The Floating Library, Minnesota
The Reality of Small Differences, Leeds
Engagement and Entrapment, Binyamin Gallery, Tel Aviv
Fabricate, Millennium Gallery, Sheffield
Library Interventions: Sharon Kivland, Leeds College of Art & Design
The Imaginary Museum, The Tetley, Leeds
2013
Living Numbers, Fringe Arts Bath
Klub Kube, LoBe, Berlin
Art: Language: Location, Cambridge
ArtLacuna Prize, London
Out of Context, Bank St Art, Sheffield
Contemporary Construction 1, CADS, Sheffield
Bibliography
Crawshaw, Hill, Shoddy Work, (essay in Ford, Sarah-Joy, Cut Cloth, PO Pub., 2017) p.104
Clarke, Helen & Kivland, Sharon (eds), The Lost Diagrams of Walter Benjamin, Ma Bibliotèque 2017, p.93
The Book Arts Newsletter, Cover, issue 95, Bodman, Sarah (ed.) CFPR, 2015
Sharon Kivland, Report on Knowledge, Ma Bibliotèque 2014, p.34-35
Smith, Rachel, Out of Context: In Response, Lulu 2013, p.15, 31, 41, 55
Walton, Madeleine, List 14, Art:Language:Location, 2013
Collections
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Thomas J Watson Library, USA
Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection, USA
Yale Centre for British Art, USA
Lafayette College, USA
Swarthmore College, USA
The Floating Library, USA
Oxford Brookes University Library
The Tetley, Leeds
TATE Library, Special Collections
Chelsea College of Art, Special Collections
Leeds College of Art, Special Collection
Centre de livres d’artiste (CdLA), France
Awards/Selections
Self Reflection project supported by Arts Council England, 2018-9
COIN/ICON Penny Exchange supported by Arts Council England, 2016-2018
Kaleid2015, Artist’s Books Representation
ArtLacuna Prize Shortlist, 2013
Education
Turps Art School, Correspondence Course, 2018-9
MA (Distinction) Fine Art, Sheffield Hallam University, 2011-14
BA (Hons) Painting, St Martin’s School of Art, 1983-6
Foundation, St Martin’s School of Art, 1983
