Kate Shepherd’s upcoming solo exhibition at Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, promises to be a captivating exploration of space, color, and form. Titled “ABC and sometimes Y,” the show unveils a fresh collection of paintings, sculptures, and watercolors that push the boundaries of Shepherd’s long-standing engagement with abstraction and perspectival space.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a large-scale, site-specific wall painting that dominates the main gallery space. This installation showcases Shepherd’s mastery in creating illusory depth through the clever use of overlapping shapes and varied color tones. As visitors move through the space, they’ll experience a dynamic interplay between the artwork and its environment, with the horizontal scale of the mural engaging viewers both spatially and temporally.
Shepherd’s signature enamel and oil paintings on aluminum panels offer a different yet equally compelling visual experience. These works feature diagrammatic configurations of linear forms, rendered in thin black and white lines against reflective surfaces. The color palette ranges from soft pastels to vibrant yellows, each hue carefully chosen to evoke specific emotional responses to the compositions. In some pieces, Shepherd introduces a new element by dividing the background into two tones, adding another layer of complexity to the pictorial field.
The exhibition also presents a series of watercolors that demonstrate Shepherd’s ability to create a sense of movement and dynamism through the use of contrasting tones in monochromatic planar shapes. These works hint at the artist’s background in figurative painting, with their attention to naturalistic gravity and credible space.
Perhaps the most striking evolution in Shepherd’s practice is evident in the large-scale painted plywood sculptures dispersed throughout the gallery. These three-dimensional pieces bring the artist’s linear constructions into physical space, offering a tangible manifestation of the forms explored in her paintings. The sculptures, which maintain the thin profile characteristic of Shepherd’s work, create an intriguing dialogue with the two-dimensional pieces on display.
As viewers move through the exhibition, they’ll encounter a cohesive body of work that demonstrates Shepherd’s ongoing innovation within her established artistic language. The interplay between color, form, and space challenges perceptions and invites contemplation, making “ABC and sometimes Y” a must-see event for art enthusiasts and critics alike.
Kate Shepherd’s “ABC and sometimes Y” opens at Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, on Thursday, December 12, 2024.
