In the past few years, Kate has exhibited in Berlin, London and the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Hobart, and in Chicago. With a history of focussing on painting, Kate has directed her work into modern soft sculpture, incorporating traditional embroidery, reflecting the role of the traditional within contemporary art.
She has been the recipient of Arts Tasmania’s Artsbridge program twice, to hold an solo exhibition in Chicago at Matthew Rachman Gallery and to travel to Kuala Lumpur to hold workshops, as well as a finalist in The Bay of Fires Art Prize 2012, Lethbridge 10000 Award 2018, Clayton Utz Art Prize 2017, and The Henry Jones Art Prize 2018, among other achievements.
She holds exhibitions at least every eighteen months, two of these in Italy; with her latest being Dumbo, a series of raster prints with embroidery at Penny Contemporary, Hobart (2018); Group exhibtions include the Polygon Project, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart (2016). This show included thirty artists from across the globe such as Lori Nelson and Danielle Krysa; Red, curated by Richard Denny, Sofitel Gold Coast (2015) and a show curated by Juan Arata at Michael Reid Berlin Gallery (2015) and The Plasticine Factory in London (2016). Future exhibitions include Bizzargh! with Ben Ely in October at Penny Contemporary, and Lot 19 in Castlemaine, Victoria, in December, 2018.
McCarthy clearly trusts her instincts and is not afraid to go in a new direction, guided by her skills and a delirious, flexible lexicon of shapes and colours. Andrew Harper, review for tasweekend, 2016
With childlike shapes and mysterious figures, there is something uncanny about her paintings. They are at once familiar and strange. They feel cozy, they appear wrapped up like a gift, and they are definitely hiding something.
Kristin Farr, Juxtapoz, 2016
KATE McCARTHY CV 2018
Born Brisbane, Queensland. Lives between Melbourne, Victoria and Hobart, Tasmania.
REPRESENTATION
Mathew Rachman Gallery, Chicago, USA www.matthewrachmangallery.com
Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Australia www.pennycontemporary.com.au
CSArt, Reggio Emilia, Italy www.csart.it
ACHIEVEMENTS
2019 Rimbun Dahan Artist Residency
2018 finalist Henry Jones Art Award (Award TBA)
2018 finalist Lethbridge 10000 Award
2017 finalist Clayton Utz Art Prize
2017 Recipient of Arts Connect Grant, Arts Tasmania, for travel support to facilitate workshops in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2017 Recipient of Arts Connect Grant, Arts Tasmania, for travel support to travel to USA for solo show in Chicago
2014 Finalist, LCH Art Prize, Launceston
2013 Finalist Bay of Fires Art Prize
2012 Finalist DHG Art Prize (mural design), Prato, Italy
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018 Dumbo! Penny Contemporary, Hobart
2017 The Fantastic Nest, Mathew Rachman Gallery, Chicago, USA (with kind thanks to Arts Tasmania and the Minister)
2016 Big + Little, Penny Contemporary, Hobart
2014 The Small Things, Penny Contemporary, Hobart
2012 Fun With Words, Penny Contemporary, Hobart
2011 Sydney Fringe Festival, New Town, Sydney
2009 Self, The Wall Exhibition Space, Arts Tasmania Arts Centre Hobart
2010 Chux Redux, CSart, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 Chain Gang, Lot 19, Castlemaine
2016 Plasticine Art Factory, London
2015 Co-curator of group show Editions #1 at Penny Contemporary with Laura E. Kennedy
2015 Pop-up show curated by Juan Arata at Michael Reid Berlin Gallery, Berlin
2015 Sofitel, curated by Richard Denny, Gold Coast
2015 To Be Edited, Penny Contemporary, Hobart
2014 Under 1 Roof, Group Show, New York
2011 On the Wall with Leeloo and Finders Keepers, Carriageworks, Sydney
2011 An Indispensable Item, Gilligan Grant Gallery, Collingwood
2010 Aussie Girls, CSArt, Reggio Emila, Italia
2010 On the Wall, Finders Keepers and Leeloo, CarraigeWorks, Sydney
2010 Art Melbourne 10, Retrospect Galleries, Melbourne, Australia
2010 Who Got The Bunny, GILLIGAN GRANT GALLERY, Collingwood Australia
2009 Petit Travaux, Retrospect Galleries, Byron Bay, NSW, Australia
2009 Art Melbourne 09, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2008 BSG Small Works (finalist)
PUBLICATIONS, BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS
Controlled Chaos, Andrew Harper, tasweekend for The Mercury, May 28-29, 2016
Juxtapoz Online, March 4, 2016
Artescape Magazine 2015
Big Kids Magazine 2015
2014/2015 We Are Hobart artwork feature
2013 Illustrated John D. and Me by Sonia Penny, project ongoing
2013 RAH Collective
2011 The Sunday Age Newspaper Magazine, June 19th, 2011