Lives and works in London
If you would like to arrange a studio visit (virtual or IRL) please get in touch
Contact: caterina_lewis@hotmail.com
Notes on my work
I’ve thought a lot about absurdity in relation to art and life, Sisyphus’s struggle with the boulder always seemed a fitting metaphor for living but the act is not without humour, integrity or beauty. Among other things, I grew up loving Beckett’s plays and alongside this faithfully copying the images of graffiti (with my brother) from the 1980’s book Subway Art. I think my work draws on the aesthetics of both. I like writer Lauren Berlants’ idea that the funny is always tripping over the not funny and the possibility that this awkwardness offers for both humour and sincerity.
I’m interested in the internal logic of painting, that it has its own rules, or no rules at all, it still feels rebellious to paint. A painting doesn’t have to make sense in a literal way but it can nevertheless make visual sense. In my work, I’m always pushing for an image that just ‘holds’ together figuratively and spatially, something that is teetering on an edge, ravelling and unravelling, intelligible and utterly dumb.
In seeking the absurd in everyday rituals there’s an attempt to understand an expression of human behaviour and desire. I often work with images from old photography books bought cheaply on eBay. My heritage is central European secular Jewish and many of these books document Jewish ceremonies and lifestyles, images and customs I can’t totally understand because I have no experience of but sense that the content has somehow shaped me. For me, the fact the images are often indecipherable opens them up for painting. Through painting from these images I move closer to my core, deconstructing them in order to bring into fruition truer ones. The images I work from always contain tension and possibility, creating a state of flux that is somehow reflected in the flux between abstraction and figuration.
Education
2007-2008
MA Fine Art, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London
1998-2001
BA Fine Art, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London
Selected Exhibitions
2022
Bad Language, Atrium Space, BAGT
Binary, Terrace
Flirting with the Border Guards, curated by Jon Ridge, Terrace
2021
Studio Confetti curated by Karl Bielik, Terrace
2020
The Collector's Room (Houdini), curated by Karen David, JGM Gallery
2019
A Tapered Teardrop, curated by Karl Bielik, Terrace
Stairway To Heaven: Abstraction Now, curated by Dan Coombs
Our Kind of People, Artworks Project Space, London (solo)
2018
Do Re Mi Fa So La Te, Perimeter Space Griffin Gallery, curated by Karen David
2017
Alpine Rd @ PIAF, London
2016
Pipedream, University of Worcester
The Garden of Forking Paths, Lewisham Arthouse
2015
Autocatalytic Future Games, curated by Playpaint, London
2014
London Calling, curated by Erin Lawlor, Look & Listen, Saint Chamas, France
2013
Artworks Open, selected by David Kefford and Reece Jones, London
Other Objects, co-curated by Caterina Lewis & Gwennan Thomas, Lion and Lamb, London
Creekside Open, selected by Paul Noble, London
Start 13, Bermondsey Project, London
2012
Bow Arts Open, London
2011
Tropical Disease, Galerie Im Regierungviertel, Berlin
2010
So what’s different today? Globe Gallery & Hoults Yard, Newcastle
2009
Private Practice 2, Empire Gallery, London
2008
Private Practice, Chinese Characters Contemporary Art Space, Budapest
2007
Eternal Quickies, Internsjonalt Kultursenter og Museum, Oslo (solo)
2004
Falling, Galleri Seilduken, Oslo
2002
Skin, Notting Hill Arts Club, London (solo)
Museum in the Making, Lethaby Gallery, London
Dislocation, late view group exhibition, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Residencies
2019
Artist in Residence, Hickser Projects, Italy
2012-2014
Bermondsey Project
2006-2007
University of Fine Art in Budapest
2003-2004
National Academy of the Arts in Oslo
Scholarships and Awards
2003-2004
Norwegian Research Council Scholarship
2001
Kate Barton Painting Award