Edited with text by Tina Kukielski. Foreword by Alex Gartenfeld. Text by Gary Panter, Amy Sillman, Chris Byrne, Petita Cole, Rachel King.
Like many so-called outsider artists, Susan Te Kahurangi King (born 1951) has an origin story--from an early age, she communicated solely through her art. The Drawings of Susan Te Kahurangi King reveals the various periods of the New Zealand artist’s work from that foundational moment: from her childhood drawings, to her notebooks, to her mature work of the 1970s and ’80s up until the point, sometime in the 1980s, when King stopped drawing. Also included is work made since 2008, when King returned to art, showing the artist’s recent moves beyond representation. King’s surreal, cartoonish work triumphs in dialogue with contemporary painting and drawing, echoing the comic-inspired work of such painters as Nicole Eisenman, Laura Owens and Joyce Pensato--work that similarly draws from the poles of an unfettered vision, on the one hand, and common pop culture iconography on the other. Yet in King’s work we see the unfiltered manifestation of a self-taught artist, whose work is always art and communication simultaneously. In addition to offering a biographical overview of King’s life, this catalogue tracks the evolution of her oeuvre and provides contextualization of her art.
"Untitled" (c. 1959–61) is reproduced from 'The Drawings of Susan Te Kahurangi King.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Artforum, Best of 2016
Emily Hall
The drawings have a very particular urgency, pulling us in with their power to amaze and confuse, and keeping us there with their distinct atmosphere of apprehensiveness and dread.
Bookforum
Her chimerical transformations lend them[selves] to the force of unvoiced articulation.
Born in 1951, self-taught New Zealand artist Susan Te Kahurangi King was one of 12 children. Later diagnosed as "severely autistic," she gave up speaking at the age of four, and instead communicated through drawing, before giving up the practice for reasons unknown. In 2008, she resumed drawing. Since then King has been the subject of a documentary film, as well as a career retrospective at ICA Miami (on view through October 30). This weekend King's work was the subject of a panel at the NY Art Book Fair, and now a limited number of signed copies of the ICA's excellent exhibition catalog are available at the ARTBOOK @ MoMA PS1 Book and Magazine Stores. "Untitled" (c. 1975–80) is reproduced from The Drawings of Susan Te Kahurangi King. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 11 in. / 112 pgs / 75 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $29.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $39.95 GBP £27.00 ISBN: 9780997249279 PUBLISHER: ICA Miami AVAILABLE: 11/22/2016 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by ICA Miami. Edited with text by Tina Kukielski. Foreword by Alex Gartenfeld. Text by Gary Panter, Amy Sillman, Chris Byrne, Petita Cole, Rachel King.
Like many so-called outsider artists, Susan Te Kahurangi King (born 1951) has an origin story--from an early age, she communicated solely through her art. The Drawings of Susan Te Kahurangi King reveals the various periods of the New Zealand artist’s work from that foundational moment: from her childhood drawings, to her notebooks, to her mature work of the 1970s and ’80s up until the point, sometime in the 1980s, when King stopped drawing. Also included is work made since 2008, when King returned to art, showing the artist’s recent moves beyond representation.
King’s surreal, cartoonish work triumphs in dialogue with contemporary painting and drawing, echoing the comic-inspired work of such painters as Nicole Eisenman, Laura Owens and Joyce Pensato--work that similarly draws from the poles of an unfettered vision, on the one hand, and common pop culture iconography on the other. Yet in King’s work we see the unfiltered manifestation of a self-taught artist, whose work is always art and communication simultaneously. In addition to offering a biographical overview of King’s life, this catalogue tracks the evolution of her oeuvre and provides contextualization of her art.
