Katie Holten

Katie Holten is an Irish artist whose artwork focuses on humans' impact on the natural environment.^[1] Her mother was a gardener and a floral artist.^[2] In 2004 Holten was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to develop her practice in New York. In 2002, Holten was awarded €20,000 as the winner of the AIB art awards.^[3][4] Five years after graduating from National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Holten was chosen to represent Ireland at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003.

Work

External video

"It's sort of a living thing but it's a non-living thing and it's the invisible part... A lot of my work tends to be invisible or very difficult to see.", Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2013

Holten's work is often made from recycled materials, and involves maps, plants, and various ecological subjects, provoking a dialogue on issues ranging from biodiversity to global warming.^[1] "As a society that excludes nature from everyday life, how can today's art engage with the natural landscape?" Katie Holten is looking for an answer to this question.

Drawing is central to Holten's work. She is fascinated by the process of transforming two-dimensional drawings to three-dimensional works. "In a sense, no matter what form they end up taking, all of my works can be considered drawings. I have a wide-open understanding of what drawing is. It’s lines created on a page, in space, on screen, on a wall, through walking, flying, talking, via graphite, ink, sand, stones, wind, sound, ether, time… Drawing is a way to chart what is there, what might be there, what could be there."^[2] In works like "Uprooted", the very shadows cast on the walls are part of the work.^[5]

In 2007 Holten was commissioned by The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Wave Hill and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation to create "Tree Museum", a public artwork celebrating the 2009 centennial of the Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY.^[6][7] "She has marked out 100 trees along the Concourse, which is about four and a half miles long. Each one will have a sign that gives a phone number and a code to listen to short recordings of people speaking about the Bronx, their lives and their work."^[8]

Galleries

Katie Holten is represented by VAN HORN in Düsseldorf, Germany.^[9]

Exhibitions

• 2013
  • "Uprooted" in the Sensing Change Exhibit at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia, US.^[10][11]
• 2012
  • "Drawn to the Edge" in New Orlean's Museum of Art, New Orleans, US (June 15-Sep 9 2012)^[12][13][14]
  • "Light and Landscape", Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, New York, US (May 12 — November 11, 2012)^[15]
  • Katie Holten, FUTURA, Prague, Czech Republic (September 11-November 25, 2012)
• 2011
• 2010
  • The Golden Bough, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland^[16][17]
  • Solo exhibition, VAN HORN, Düsseldorf, Germany^[9]
• 2009
  • Green Platform, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
  • Subversive Spaces, The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
  • Public Art Commission, New York, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Wave Hill, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (solo)
  • Compilation IV, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Germany
• 2008
  • ATLAS of MEMORY, Nevada Museum of Art,^[1] Reno (solo)
  • IMPLANT, The Horticultural Society of New York at UBS, New York
  • Villa Merkel, Esslingen am Luckar, Germany (solo)
  • Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, Inc. New York, US (solo)
• 2007
  • Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Missouri, US (solo)^[18]
  • VAN HORN, Düsseldorf, Germany (solo)
  • Schuermann Berlin, Germany (solo)
  • Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany
  • Pforzheim Kunstverein, Germany
  • Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, UK
• 2006
  • Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, US
  • KBH Kunsthal, Copenhagen, Denmark (solo)
  • Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, Paris, France
  • Goettingen Kunstverein, Goettingen, Germany
  • GRAN BAZAAR, Centro Historico, Mexico City, Mexico (solo)
• 2005
  • Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria
  • CREATIVE TIME, New York, US
  • Wallspace Gallery, New York, US
  • LMAK Projects, New York, US
• 2003
  • Irish Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Italy
  • Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
  • W139, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 2002
  • Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, Ireland

Publications

• Katie Holten, a Van Horn Press book published by Revolver, Germany, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86588-446-6
• Katie Holten: Paths of Desire, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Missouri, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9777528-3-6
• GRAN BAZAAR, Tûp Institute and m o s t r a, printed in Mexico City, 2006, ISBN 0-9788046-0-0
• En Upassende Sandhed, Pork Salad Press, Copenhagen, 2006, ISBN 87-91409-30-6
• notional, Coracle Press, Clonmel, 2003, ISBN 0-906630-19-3
• Procumbent Notions, Pork Salad Press, Copenhagen, 2003, ISBN 978-87-91409-03-5
• Katie Holten and others: Drawings, Instances, Collaborations + Texts, Tûp Institute and Temple Bar Gallery and Studio, Dublin, 2002, ISBN 1-903895-03-0

References

External links

• Katie Holten artist's website
• Gasser & Grunert New York gallery
• VAN HORN Düsseldorf, Germany
• Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis solo museum exhibition, 2007
• The New Yorker Talk of the Town piece by Ian Frazier, 2009
• ARTFORUM Review of solo exhibition, 2010
• katieholten.com/ARTFORUM