Kate Whiteford

Kate Whiteford OBE (born 1952) is a Scottish artist.[1] Her work includes painting, screen prints, textiles, land art and installations.

Kate Whiteford

OBE
Born1952 (age 68–69)
Websitewww.katewhiteford.com

Corryvrechan Tapestry, 1997, designed by Kate Whiteford

Early life and education

Whiteford was born in Glasgow in 1952,[2] and studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1969 to 1972, followed in 1974–1976 with a degree in Art History from the University of Glasgow.[2] In 1997 a British Council scholarship enabled her to travel to Italy where she was struck by the frescoes of Pompei and Herculaneum with their classical images and reduced range of colours.[2]

Career

Whiteford is heavily influenced by archaeology, drawing inspiration from the local Pictish art.[3] Her work spans textiles, video, land art, prints and painting.[4]

One of her works, an untitled 1988 screenprint, is in the permanent collection of the Tate Gallery.[1][5]

She designed Corryvrechann tapestry for the opening of the then Museum of Scotland in 1998. It measures 8 by 4 metres (26 by 13 ft) and was woven by Dovecot Studios. Since 2003 it has hung in Hawthornden Court in the now National Museum of Scotland. In 2015 the museum's conservation team took down the 90-kilogram (200 lb) tapestry and moved it to a freezer where it was kept at -30 degrees for a week to eradicate moths.[6] Corryvreckan, between the islands of Jura and Scarba, is the world's third largest whirlpool.

She has made a series of land art works, including her 2001 Shadow of a Necklace in the grounds of Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute. This comprised a drawing of a necklace, dug into a large lawn and filled with silver sand, planted in 2003 with grass seed which left a darker shadow on the lawn, gradually to fade away. It was inspired by a jet necklace found in a Bronze Age burial site at the site.[7]

Exhibitions

In 1990, she represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale as part of Three Scottish Sculptors along with David Mach and Arthur Watson.

Whiteford's work has also been included in other group shows, including,

  • Expressions: Scottish Art 1976–1989, 2000[8]
  • Scottish Artists Prints, 1996, 1995, 1990[8]
  • From Art to Archaeology, 1991, 1992[8]

In 2018, the Brontë Parsonage commissioned Whiteford to create a work about Emily Brontë’s hawk Nero, resulting in a video installation accompanied by a series of works on paper.[9]

Recognition

Whiteford was appointed OBE in the 2001 Birthday Honours "For services to Art".[10]

The National Portrait Gallery holds a photographic portrait of Whiteford, by Heather Waddell, 1993.[11]

References
  1. Foster, Alicia (2004). Tate women artists. London: Tate. p. 253. ISBN 9781854373113.
  2. "Kate Whiteford". www.nationalgalleries.org. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  3. Archaeology, Current World (5 November 2009). "The Art of Kate Whiteford". World Archaeology. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  4. March, 27; Darley, 2009By Gillian. "Kate Whiteford: Land Drawings; Installations; Excavations". Architects Journal. Retrieved 19 September 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. "'Untitled', Kate Whiteford, 1988". Tate. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  6. McClean, Lynn (20 April 2015). "What a Pest: Managing Moths and the Corryvrechan Tapestry". National Museums Scotland Blog. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  7. "Kate Whiteford: Shadow of a Necklace (2001)". Mount Stuart. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  8. "Kate Whiteford | Artists | Collection | British Council − Visual Arts". visualarts.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  9. "Kate Whiteford | Bronte Parsonage Museum". www.bronte.org.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  10. "No. 56237". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 16 June 2001. p. 13.
  11. "Kate Whiteford". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 12 March 2020.

Further reading
  • Cork, Richard; Renfrew, Colin; Nightingale, Richard (2007). Kate Whiteford : land drawings, installations, excavations. Black Dog. ISBN 978-1904772682.
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