303 Gallery is proud to present new work by Karen Kilimnik. Historically inspired paintings, drawings of New York, and still life and architectural photographs will be on view .
In the work of Karen Kilimnik elements of fairy tales, history, myths and reality all occupy the same space. Little Red Riding Hood is reconstructed as a vampire in a beautiful portrait of a young woman on a night walk through a timeless forest. The image is taken from a magazine of a woman whose specific personality lends itself to the transformation from victim to predator. Other works in the exhibition include Giselle’s Cottage at the Bolshoi, done after a painting by Hubert Robert that reminded Kilimnik of a ballet stage set; near by hangs a portrait of Mary Shelley in London before writing Frankenstein based on a painting by Sir Henry Raeburn. Photographs of dead squirrels and birds look as if they are sleeping and become reminiscent of Dutch still-life paintings. Other photographs reference nostalgic Alfred Stieglitz moments of horse drawn buggies and the Flat Iron building under a light snowfall, taking us back in time.
In a series of drawings of New York City, commissioned by The Armory Show 2002, Kilimnik combines historical and personal landmarks.
Karen Kilimnik has been exhibiting with 303 Gallery since 1990. Her work is currently on view in Mary Cassat, Alice Neel, Karen Kilimnik: Painted Faces at the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. She has had solo exhibitions at the Kunstverein Wolfsburg e.V. and Bonner Kunstverein in Germany and has an upcoming solo exhibition at The Irish Museum of Modern Art. An extensive book of her work, Karen Kilimnik Paintings, was published by Patrick Frey Editions in 2001.