This Spring Katie Paterson chose some of Turners paintings as inspiration for a brilliant exhibition at the Turner Contemporary art museum in Margate in Kent, England.
The exhibition ran from the end of January to the 6th May 2019 and showcased the latest works by the relatively young contemporary Scottish artist who likes to consider the scale of the universe and our place within it.
This free show enabled visitors of all ages a glimpse into the celestial world of Paterson’s mind. The first major piece in the gallery was entitled ‘Cosmic Latte’ and consisted of a large rotating sphere that showed the colours, textures and beauty of our planet as viewed from space.
Both local residents and tourists from all around the UK and beyond came to see the unique display. One gentleman who is an artist living in Suffolk described it as “the best collection he had seen at the Turner Contemporary yet” and added that he “was returning for a second tour to read more of the details and look at the exhibits again.”
Paterson’s website describe how her projects “consider our place on Earth in the context of geological time and change. Her artworks make use of sophisticated technologies and specialist expertise to stage intimate, poetic and philosophical engagements between people and their natural environment.” Paterson’s biography continues to explain that through her “…coolly minimalist presentation, her work collapses the distance between the viewer and the most distant edges of time and the cosmos.”
This blurring of the boundaries of science and art is indeed thought provoking and stimulating. Pieces such as Katie’s ‘Fossil Necklace’ which consists of 170 fossils carved into beads that represent “a major event in the evolution of life through the vast expanse of geological time” challenge us to conceptualise our place in the history of the earth. These works encourage us to think about our impact on the planet and in the atmosphere in space. This is especially relevant at this critical time for the future of our environment and the prevention of harmful climate change.
This Autumn Katie Paterson’s latest works can be seen at the NOW exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art from Saturday 28th October 2019 to Sunday 31st May 2020 at 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR.
Katie Paterson’s website http://katiepaterson.org/
Katie Paterson NOW exhibition at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art https://www.nationalgalleries.org/exhibition/now-katie-paterson-ciara-phillips-and-others