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Kathy Prendergast

KATHY PRENDERGAST

Road Trip Kerlin Gallery 29 May–10 July 2021 Dublin
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Press Release

Throughout her career Kathy Prendergast has received international critical acclaim for her work with cartography, often returning to the Atlas of North America and in particular the state of Minnesota. The map of this state, commonly known as the ‘land of 10,000 lakes’ makes clear the contrast between our need for structure and order and the irregularity of millions of years of organic natural history. A uniform grid of road networks sits at odds with a landscape formed by volcanic eruption, carved by glaciers and defined by misshapen lakes and serpentine waterways. Prendergast has painted directly on the map itself, filling in the space between the roads, redacting nature with exuberant colour.

Prendergast transforms the map from a key to understanding how to navigate the Minnesota landscape to a kaleidoscopic abstraction celebrating the chaotic clash of two opposing orders.

Prendergast represented Ireland at the 46th Venice Biennale, 1995, for which she won the prestigious Premio Duemila Prize. In the 25 years since she has had significant shows at Kunst-Station St. Peter, Cologne (2019); Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2016, 2006, 2003); Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland (2015); The Irish Museum of Modern Art (2000) and Tate Britain (1997). Her ambitious ‘Atlas’ installation first shown at Kerlin Gallery, 2016 has been shown at Museum Morsbroich, Germany (2020); Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Köln, Germany (2019); MoMA Oxford (2018) and The Yokohama Triennale (2017). Public collections include Tate, London; the Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville; Santa Barbara University Museum; the Albright-Knox, Buffalo; the Contemporary Museum, Honolulu; The Hugh Lane, Dublin and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

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About the Artist

A sculptor of quiet but immense sophistication, Kathy Prendergast’s work has persistently revolved around a potent cluster of issues, chief among which are sexuality, identity, landscape, mapping and power. Over the past decade, her work has incorporated maps modified in various ways to take on emotional and personal resonances. Though non-didactic, Prendergast’s cartographic interventions also belie shifting power structures, subtly dismantling the narratives of imperialism and colonialism, and revealing the fragility of political gestures through acts of erasure and transformation. Though enigmatic and eerily beautiful, Prendergast’s works are often marked by a sense of misdirection or loss.

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Also Exhibiting at Kerlin Gallery

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Siobhán Hapaska Kerlin Gallery 4 June–11 July 2026 Dublin
About the Gallery

Kerlin Gallery was founded in Dublin in 1988. It has built an international reputation for its dedicated, meaningful representation of leading contemporary artists through its exhibition, publishing and art fair programmes. Its current site was designed by the minimalist architect John Pawson in 1994 and offers 3,600 square feet of exhibition space over two floors in the heart of Dublin City Centre.

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Address
Anne's Lane
South Anne Street
Dublin
Ireland
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 5:30pm
Saturday, 11am – 4:30pm
(1)
Dublin Anne's Lane, South Anne Street
Kerlin Gallery contemporary art gallery in Dublin Ireland
Kerlin Gallery
Anne's Lane, South Anne Street, Dublin, Ireland
+35 316 709 093
http://www.kerlin.ie

Opening hours
Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 5:30pm
Saturday, 11am – 4:30pm
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