Kathryn Andrews
Bio
Kathryn Andrews (b. 1973 Mobile, Alabama) gets inspiration for her sculptures from driving around Los Angeles and taking in the city’s jumble of cultures, styles, and values. Her practice nimbly navigates the histories of pop, minimalism, light-and-space, and the readymade, as well as L.A.’s “finish fetish” movement, which shared her fascination with car culture. Exactingly fabricated chrome-plated objects—from steel bars and tubing to security windows and cages—are often placed alongside inexpensive store-bought commodities or objects rented from prop houses. At the heart of Andrews’s work are these carefully orchestrated juxtapositions of seemingly divergent materials whose contradictory signifiers crisscross in what the artist has described as an “unhappy marriage.” Her highly finished forms suggest something of value while the clown props provide a palpable sense of unease. Andrews’s selections are precise in their references to both art history and pop culture, and a delightful and buoyant sense of humor accompanies the serious questions that she poses about the role of art in society.
Gallery
Kathryn Andrews
Works by Kathryn Andrews. Installation view at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, June 2-September 2, 2012. Photo by Brian Forrest.
Kathryn Andrews
Kathryn Andrews. Rainbow Successor, 2011. Stainless steel, rented costume. 73 x 51 x 48 in. (185.4 x 129.5 x 121.9 cm). Ringier Collection, Switzerland. Courtesy the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles. Photograph by Brian Forrest.
Kathryn Andrews
Kathryn Andrews. Clown Rack, 2010. Stainless steel, polyester wigs. 84 x 140 x 36 in. (213.4 x 355.6 x 91.4 cm). Collection of Mimi and Filiep Libeert, Belgium. Courtesy the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles. Photograph by Fredrik Nilsen.
Kathryn Andrews
Works by Kathryn Andrews. Installation view at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, June 2-September 2, 2012. Photo by Brian Forrest.
Kathryn Andrews
Kathryn Andrews. Untitled (Clown Cabinet), 2011. Mixed media. 72 x 46 x 10 1/2 in. (182.9 x 116.8 x 26.7 cm). Collection Valeria Napoleone, United Kingdom. Courtesy the artist and Christian Nagel Gallery, Berlin. Photograph by Johannes Buss.
Kathryn Andrews
Kathryn Andrews. January 23, 2010. Chromed steel, balloons, magnets. 66 x 56 1/2 x 10 in. (167.6 x 143.5 x 25.4 cm). Rubell Family Collection, Miami; courtesy the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles. Photograph by Fredrik Nilsen.
Kathryn Andrews
Made in L.A. artist Kathryn Andrews discusses how working with fabricators influences the final product.