Karla Marchesi - Fools Gold

About

Decoding modernity through the medium of art history painting, Marchesi draws on traditions of 17th century Dutch impossible bouquet still lifes as a means to question contemporary cultural dictates. Here she investigates how the impossible bouquet conflates relationships between nature, culture and neo-liberal economics. Broaching themes of gender, sexuality, autobiography; death and temporality; cultural contrivances and historical myopia, her work utilises a tragic-comic sensibility to theatrically question our historical moment and address anxieties afflicting contemporary living, questioning the modes of authenticity presented in ideological systems.

Born in Brisbane, Australia in 1984, Karla lives and works in Berlin. She holds Bachelor of Fine Art (2004) and Honours in Fine Art (2007) degrees from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, where she received the University Medal for academic excellence and the Honours Thesis Prize. Marchesi received the Philip Bacon Galleries Prize for Excellence in Drawing in 2003, enabling her to study for a semester at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, US. Marchesi has held solo exhibitions in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Berlin, Singapore and Luxembourg. In 2012 she undertook a studio residency at Atelierhaus Mengerzeile, Berlin that preceded her first international solo exhibition at Kunsthalle M3, Berlin. She has subsequently participated in a number of international group exhibitions. Marchesi is a recipient of the 1st Prize in the Redland Art Awards (2010), the Wilson Visual Arts Award (2012) and an Australia Council for the Arts Early Career New Work Grant (2013). Her work is included in a number of public collections including The University of Queensland Art Museum, Museum of Brisbane and several regional galleries in Australia.