7 Sins: A new series by Kate Renee
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Painter Kate Renee returns for her second solo show exhibition with Gamut Gallery debuting her new three dimensional painting technique in her exhibition, 7 Sins. A natural progression to her Beauties Behaving Badly exhibit, Renee’s latest series examines the seven deadly sins – gluttony, wrath, greed, envy, vanity, sloth and lust – each paired with a familiar pop culture icon or classic cartoon character. Through political and pop culture parody, Renee’s characters provide light-hearted, playful narratives for the underlying sinister themes of her work.
For 7 Sins, Renee uses a recurring motif of “sevens,” applying seven layers of acrylic paint to create a multi-dimensional experience. An experimental departure from previous techniques which involved applying acrylic paint to birch and setting the resin as a sealant over the finished piece, in this series Renee pours layers of resin over natural wood to create thick spaces in between each paint layer producing a bold, 3D painting.
With a signature style that reads as “edgy with a cute veneer,” Renee’s distinctive bright color palate and stylistic lines draw the viewer to her lowbrow characters, while their sarcastic, dark and often uncomfortable content presents substance beyond the pop surrealist visage. Each body of work doesn’t simply breathe life into a new character, but challenges the viewer to examine the underbelly of society.
Renee sees the character choices for this series as evolutionary roles of the princess personalities she used in Beauties Behaving Badly – the Queen of Hearts representing “wrath,” the Wicked Witch of the West for “envy,” Mike Teavee from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for “sloth.” While surface level visuals may direct the viewer to relevant pop culture references, the concealed message is often somber and poignant, i.e. her use of the character Mike Teavee implies a political commentary on gun and police violence, a subtle shout-out to the Black Lives Matter movement. In “Greed,” she enlists the personification of the money- bags-toting Monopoly Man, but with minor changes that take on a Trump form. By highlighting relevant, au courant issues and involving her characters as active participants in that role, Renee presents a platform for a conversation between artist and viewer, however twisted that dialogue may turn.
In January 2013, Kate was awarded a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant, completed her Beauties Behaving Badly series and implemented a solo exhibition at Gamut Gallery. She had a nearly sell out show with this exhibit. Her 7 Sins exhibit marks Gamut’s longest running exhibition of the year with a series of accompanying pop-up events and performance pieces throughout its stint allowing for more opportunities to connect with the artist and her work.
EXHIBIT OPEN HOURS
Thursdays & Fridays // 3-7pm
Saturdays // 1-7pm
Or by appointment
Free and open to the public
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[/bscolumns][bscolumns class=”one_half_last_clear”]OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, October 1st 2017, 7-11pm
With sets from DJ BLEΔK ROSES (Juleana Enright) and guest DJ BOBA PHAT (Beth Hammarlund of l’étoile magazine)
$5 admission
DANCE PERFORMANCE & ART TALK
Saturday, October 8th 2017, 8-10pm
Dance performance by Borealis Dance inspired by 7 Sins exhibition. Discussion with Kate Renee and Danielle Ricci of Borealis Dance to follow.
$10 admission / Doors at 7:30pm, Performance at 8pm
EXHIBIT FINALE
Saturday, October 29th 2017, 7-11pm
Genrebeast 5: ACTN, the final CD release in the Genrebeast parties by Gus Watkins with K.Radiyo, Minnie/Bluntz, & The Stress of her Regard.
$10 entry, $15 w/ CD
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ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Kate Renee is an acrylic painter who lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She paints edgy works with a cute veneer on wood panel. Kate graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts in Art, Art History, and an academic minor in Design. She has worked with various galleries and arts organizations in the Twin Cities including the Women’s Art Resources of Minnesota (WARM), Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA), Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA), Larson Art Gallery, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, American Swedish Institute and Minnesota State Arts Board (MNSAB). Upon completion of an internship at Altered Esthetics, a non-profit art gallery in Northeast Minneapolis, Kate became their first Director of Solo Exhibitions in January of 2011. Since this opportunity in non-profit program development, Kate has continued to serve emerging artists through her consultation services. Learn more at KateRenee.com
Follow Gamut Gallery on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for sneak peeks and special announcements leading up to these events. Exhibit’s official hashtag: #7sins