Andrew Kerr. The gallery is beside a church, apartments and a small park with fountain

About

Born in 1977 in Glasgow where he lives and works, Andrew Kerr is known for his paintings and sculptures made from paper and found material. Often on a small and intimate scale, his works represent scenes and inspirations from his daily life but are rarely direct observational studies. Blurring the spectrum that spans between figuration and abstraction, Kerr magnifies the qualities of form, color, and materiality of an object, emphasizing a particular relationship between the object and the illusory space it inhabits. Dictated by the movement of and layering of muted colors across a surface usually built up delicately over time, Kerr’s paintings of acrylic on paper consistently break the expected development of the composition, creating scenes that are unexpected and inquisitive, and simultaneously modest and poetic. He also integrates sculptural elements into his practice with the use of seemingly banal and sometimes leftover materials such as cardboard, wood, plastic foam, polystyrene, and tree leaves.

For his exhibition at Rat Hole Gallery, Kerr’s installation will consist of his new paintings which suggest references to Impressionism, surrealism, decorative painting as in the style of Nabis painters, and the abstraction of Arthur Dove. In his new work, Kerr’s studio practice has involved scattering work-in-progress paintings on the floor, blending elements when unexpected connections have emerged, and pursuing internal pictorial structures with the principal mode of action being color play. Kerr also explores the use of supports and framing with material such as wood and found board, creating an additional dimension to the perceptual experience of the paintings, which liberate the viewer from the constraints of visual conventions and structures of thought.

Andrew Kerr graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 1999 and has since exhibited internationally with recent exhibitions in including: ‘The Other Shop’ , The Modern Institute, Glasgow (Solo, 2014);‘I Cheer a Dead Man’s Sweetheart', De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill (2014); In NO time, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2014); Shane Campell Gallery, Chicago (Solo, 2014); ‘A Picture Show', GoMA, Glasgow (2013); ‘Dellmess was Charged’, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (Solo, 2012); ‘Haul in, Cousin', BQ, Berlin (solo, 2012); ‘So Ensconced’, Inverleith House, Edinburgh (Solo, 2011); ‘Fizz Up and Dissolve’, The Project Room, Glasgow (2010); and ‘Deliveries: feeling one, running one, accepting one, against one, preparing one, revising one and sending one’, Kunstverein Bremerhaven, (Solo, 2009).