4–19 November 2006

Sheffield-based artist Kate Whateley’s work is in part preoccupied with the itinerant process of drawing into painting. Drawing is the foundation of her practice, with initial concepts being quickly recorded in a series of linear sketches, sometimes with written notes or directions but more often not. One drawing acts as a catalyst for another in a repetitive and perpetual process. From these sketches paintings are made, and more recently Whateley has made drawings alongside these paintings. It is this process that will be presented in the exhibition The Stuff of Things at Bloc.

In the paintings shown, the physical material of their make-up is always present. Hardboard, primer, nails and screws are exposed; masking tape is sometimes left in place. This exposure of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of her trade acts to create an air of apparent simplicity – ‘this is what I am’ they seem to say.

Whateley’s drawings and paintings are predominantly concerned with line, from the rough preliminary geometric sketches for her paintings, through to looser, less formal drawings. Within the paintings themselves, the lines can appear as drips or staccato marks that are sometimes thickly layered or singular. Within the paintings the line acts to refer the painting back to drawing, whilst the physical presence of the paint acknowledges the historical weight of the medium.

The refuse of the painting process is used to make new work in the form of drawings - Whateley’s response to the paintings. Drops of paint and scraps of masking tape form a series of meandering organic forms that have a fragility but also suggest a further potential.

Click here for images of the exhibition.

FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in Sheffield. Whateley completed her M.A. Drawing in Fine Art at Wimbledon School of Art in 2000. Selected exhibitions include Drawing at the Riverside Gallery, Milwaukee; Ditto, Wimbledon Art Gallery in London and Marks Out of 10 at S1 Projects in Sheffield. She most recently exhibited in The Biggest Draw at the V&A Millenium Galleries, Sheffield, in 2004.