Ode to Femme

Kathrin Longhurst | Ode to Femme | October 12 - 31st, 2018

Kathrin Longhurst was born in communist East Germany. A classically trained figurative painter, she began attending life drawing classes at the age of fourteen. When she was just fifteen, her family escaped from ‘behind the iron curtain’, relocating to Sweden. This jarring transition from a totalitarian regime to a democracy sparked Kathrin’s passion for exploring the concepts of freedom of speech and expression, concepts that continue to thread through her work today.
Extensive travel provided Kathrin with a unique perspective on the role of women in the media, and her works in ‘Ode to Femme’ reference not only communist propaganda but also the power of advertising in our lives. Her skilfully rendered subjects layer themes of sexuality and freedom, both seducing and challenging the viewer with their ruby lips, luminous bare skin and confronting gaze to illustrate her message that:
‘Propaganda is all around us. It’s not specific to a period of time, a country or a regime...it’s everywhere’.
A well-respected member of the Sydney arts community, Kathrin served as vice president for Portrait Artists Australia for some years and is currently founder and director of the innovative Project 504, an art space that fosters collaboration between emerging and established Australian artists. Recently Kathrin has become involved in an initiative of The Art Gallery of NSW, with a programme called ‘Fearless’. This programme aims to promote gender parity across all sectors of business and support female artists to get ahead through mentorship programmes, personal development and coaching.
Kathrin completed her tenth solo show in 2014 and has been a finalist in numerous awards including the 2018 Archibald Portrait Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, the prestigious 2012 Sulman Prize, the Mosman Art Prize, The Portia Geach Award 2018 (2017 People's Choice Winner), The Doug Moran Portrait Prize, the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Prize, the Korea Australia Arts Foundation Prize and the WA Black Swan Prize. Her work is collected widely in Australia and overseas including the esteemed Bennet Collection, Texas, USA who acquired Kathrin's large-scale painting 'Ode to Feminism' this year.
Kathrin joined Gallery One in October 2017 as a Representative Artist and 'Ode to Femme' is Kathrin's first solo exhibition with Gallery One.