Kate MccGwire

Kate MccGwire (* 1964 in Norwich , England ) is a British sculptor and installation artist .

Life

Kate MccGwire grew up in the Norfolk Broads , an area known for its natural spaces on the east coast of England. Her father was a boat builder , so she already had a lot of contact with nature as a child, which, according to her own statement, shaped her later artistic work. She worked as a draftsman for several years before she decided to realize her own ideas artistically. She first studied applied arts at the University College for the Creative Arts in Farnham and graduated in 2001 with a BA and distinction. She then devoted herself to a master's degree in sculpture at the Royal College of Art in London , completing this in 2004. The artist lives and works in London and exhibits internationally.

plant

Kate MccGwire works with natural materials, mostly feathers. Much of her work shows intertwined "creatures" that are mostly reminiscent of entrails, snakes or Möbius loops . The surfaces of the art objects are fully equipped with accurately positioned, tight-fitting springs. Your work has no beginning and no end, it looks bizarre, elegant and eerie at the same time.

She collects the feathers she uses herself or has them sent to her by post from bird breeders. Many come from moulting birds, others from dead ones (such as crows shot by farmers). By often processing pigeon feathers, MccGwire contrasts the everyday life and devaluation of animals, which are also considered to be disease carriers, with beauty at the same time. The connection between aesthetics and disgust plays a major role in MccGwire's work. The dove is the symbol of peace, purity, and fertility, [...] but it's exactly the same species as a pigeon — which everyone regards as being dirty, foul, a pest. - Kate MCcGwire.

She surrounds some of her works with protective glass hoods or antique showcases, which makes them appear particularly high-quality despite the natural materials.

MccGwire also designs large-scale installations out of springs. Some of these installations appear as if water is pouring onto the ground from undefined openings or from sewer pipes. Here, too, the artist alludes to pigeons , as " rats of the air". Other installations, on the other hand, are designed in such a way that they move almost imperceptibly, which the artist calls breathing . She also says that in her mind, her works are all moving and have something very lively about them.

Kate MccGwire on her art: My work employs a range of binary emotions, from beauty and disgust to fear and allure, so everyone's reaction is different, guided by their own experiences and affinities. I wouldn't like to impose my expectations on the viewer experience as I hope the work will inflict its own sense of meaning.

Exhibitions (selection)

• 2016 I prefer life. Reydan Weiss Collection , Weserburg Museum of Modern Art , Bremen (MccGwire's work 'Skein' can be seen)
• 2016 Rare Bird John James Audubon and Contemporary Art, Berman Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, USA
• 2015 Glasstress 2015 Gotika, an official collateral event of the 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
• 2015 The Collective , The Drawing Room, The House of St Barnabas, London, Great Britain

Awards

• 2013 Judge of the Aesthetica Art Prize
• 2008 Heart of Glass Award winner

Literature (selection)

• Kate MccGwire - Lure . Exhibition cat., All Visual Arts, London 2013, ISBN 978-1907164064
• Kate MccGwire - Secrete . Exhibition cat., Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin 2015

Web links

• Official homepage of the artist with many photos of the works
• Interview with the artist at Galerie Coates & Scarry
• Interview at Afternyne.com (September 2016)
• Short film about the artist on Crane TV
• Another short film about the artist with a mention of the installations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/kate_mccgwire.htm?section_name=known_unknowns
2. ↑ http://www.artnews.com/2013/08/19/kate-mccgwire-lets-get-feathering/
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwc_BYZraRY
4. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ http://katemccgwire.com/about/
6. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ http://www.artnews.com/2013/08/19/kate-mccgwire-lets-get-feathering/
9. ↑ http://katemccgwire.com/lure/
10. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0sbjGiCfsc
11. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.