KATE SMITH

Kate Smith's paintings are sites of discovery; stylistically grounded in a historical context and overlaid with a cheeky nod to kitsch. Imbued with visual references to Western art history, Smith’s interpretation remains a personal one. 
She employs a vivid palette in her paintings and, although there is a joyful freshness and spontaneity, these works evolve slowly. Partially worked canvases surround Smith in her studio where they sporadically demand her attention until, through multiple workings or, in her words, 'tinkering out a solution', accomplished paintings emerge.



Selected individual exhibitions include: A Country Practice, Switchback Gallery, Gippsland Centre for Art and Design, Victoria, 2013; Deep Privacy/Convex, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2012; Teenage Boi Boi Sounds, Sutton Gallery, 2011; Dumb Sampler, Studio 12, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, 2011; Gesturing to the Chilli, db, Sydney, 2011; Minnie the Moocher, (in collaboration with Alex Vivian), The West Wing, Melbourne, 2011;and Monkey makes a painting, Y3K Gallery, Melbourne, 2010.



Selected group exhibitions include: Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2013; Collage: The Heide Collection, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2013; Like Mike, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, St Kilda, 2013; Regimes of Value, Margaret Lawrence Gallery and The Substation, Melbourne, 2013; Detours through Abstraction, Arts Project Australia, Melbourne, 2011; Death in the Mourning, Death be Kind, Melbourne, 2011; Cross Colouring, Gambia Castle, Auckland, 2009; and A Time Like This, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, 2008.