January 17 – March 31, 2019
kg, Blue Eye, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Robert Chase Heishman.
kg, High Wide and Continuously, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Robert Chase Heishman
kg, Malutka Chmura, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Chase Heishman
Karolina Gnatowski: Some Kind of Duty features all new handmade weavings by Chicago-based artist Karolina Gnatowski (who goes by gender-neutral kg). In monumental and small-scale tapestries, kg (American, b. Poland 1980) incorporates references ranging from addiction, personal and family histories, mourning, and pets to Polish immigration, badminton, language, Jim Morrison, and the Doors, and feminist fiber artists. The exhibition title is taken from Joan Didion’s “The Year of Magical Thinking,” a book about her husband’s death, which has been significant as kg grieves their own father’s passing, while Jim Morrison’s mythical/mysterious life and death have been a constant obsession for the artist since childhood. Kg’s keen attention to the details of life’s coincidences and moments of intersection are matched only by their extreme reverence for the history of tapestry weaving. By incorporating the evidence of everyday life into the work, kg’s weavings are offerings to those in this earthly realm and beyond.
Click here to view and purchase the exhibition catalogue.
Research Guide
Karolina Gnatowski: Some Kind of Duty is organized by DePaul Art Museum and curated by Julie Rodrigues Widholm, Director and Chief Curator.