Visual art exhibitions and events with a platform for critical writing
Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
20 October – 30 November
Reviewed by: Gemma Tipton
I've sometimes wondered what would happen if you were able to draw a map of the art world, all the lines and networks, the threads of connection, the intersections and the divergences. What would it look like? Or what if you could plot your day on a sort of schematic graph? One where the processes of getting there are shown to be just as important as the arrival itself – which of course is true'.
Katie Holten develops these themes of exploring processes and connections. She investigates theories (of science, maths, geometry) that underpin things, creating eclectic collections of objects, ideas, transplanted earth, drawings, lists, archives of the curious and the everyday.
The architecture of the Butler Gallery suits Holten's work, its connecting rooms making separate spaces where the artist has created individual environments. This way of exhibiting is more satisfying for viewing work like this than were the larger spaces of the Scuola di San Pasquale where Holten represented Ireland at last year's Venice Biennale. There, Laboratorio dell Vigna demanded perhaps too much time and space from viewers already jaded by Venice's vistas, crowds and, of course, art.
Line made while getting here is a crocheted record of the artist's journey to the Butler Gallery. Both meditation on travel, and demonstration of the invisible trails we all leave in our wake, it overwhelms the space in a wonderful way one might not have expected of a piece of knotted wool. On Loan is a selection of hundreds of small objects crafted from plasticine, which evoke David Shrigley's sketches morphed into 3-D.
Less successful is Holten's wall covered with sheets of paper. Showing drawings, diagrams, notes, theories and plans, Holten's energy and the scale of her investigative interest is impressive. But just as you should sometimes think before you speak, so too should you perhaps edit before you hang. Holten's work is interesting, exciting and engaging. It is quirky and fascinating too, and when it hits, it hits home. You just wish for a tighter, slightly less scatter-gun approach.
Katie Holten's Artist's story 'Marvelously mundane'
Writer detail:
Gemma Tipton is a writer on art and
architecture based in Dublin.
Venue detail:
Butler Gallery
The Castle, Kilkenny
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