Statement

Transformation lies at the heart of my process, for the materials and my intent for the finished work.  I deliberately emphasize positivity as an authentic position to contrast these unsettling times. My work crosses boundaries to combine photography and painting, presenting an experience that reframes the history of the luminous surface and its meaning today. 

 

Originating with a photographed arrangement of common materials like cardboard, the image is faithfully printed onto canvas. Color and image are created entirely in-camera without computer alteration, which is conceptually important. I return to the surface with selective painting. Often the image remains almost intact, resisting all but the most subtle changes. 

 

The relationship between photography and painting interests me, not because of their ability to represent objective reality, but for their ability to capture light.  The long arc through art history is filled with approaches to the luminous surface. I want the hint of something profound, otherworldly, even humorous. It’s about experiential presence.  

 

Perception is jerked back and forth as the viewer resolves the image. It’s not easy to tell what’s paint and what’s not in this precarious relationship. Surface flatness contributes to the fusion of paint and photograph, but that doesn't fully explain why the visual senses are taken by surprise. 

 

I'm looking for color that is physically remembered, as if it existed independently of the object or conditions it inhabits.  I want the color to take on more responsibility. The super-charged intensity of these constructions throws the image into uncontrollable territory. Perfection as we might expect from a photograph is denied in the environments I’m making.

 

Conveying an immersive experience that surrounds the viewer, the senses are pushed to question what a luminous image can mean now.  

Kate Petley, 2019

 

 

 

CV

Born in Rye, New York (1954)
Lives and works in Longmont, Colorado

 

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2021
Staring Into the Fire, CU Art Museum, Boulder CO; Curator: Sandra Firmin, Executive Director
2020
The Very Thing, Von Lintel Gallery, Los Angeles CA
Since Then, Robischon Gallery, Denver CO
2018
Repositioned, Robischon Gallery, Denver CO
All At Once, Orth Contemporary, Tulsa OK

2017
8 Exhibitions in Abstraction, Robischon Gallery, Denver CO
2014
Out of Line, Robischon Gallery, Denver CO
Lined, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe NM
2011
The Fruit Stare, Fort Lewis College Art Gallery, Durango CO
2010
The Spaces in Between, The Nicolaysen Museum of Art, Casper WY, Curator: Lisa Hatchadoorian
One Big Dream, Plus Gallery, Denver CO
2009
Overhead, Rudolph Projects, Houston TX
2008
Watershed, Plus Gallery, Denver CO
Fringe Element: My Piece of the Sky, PlatteForum, Denver CO
2007
Hallucinating With Vigor, Rudolph Projects, Houston TX
2006
Delirious, Plus Gallery, Denver CO
2005
Everything, Museum of the Southwest, Midland TX
2004
Recent Work, Rudolph Projects, Houston TX
2002
Inhale, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe NM
2000
Recent Works, Rudolph Projects, New York NY
Inhale, Diverseworks, Houston TX
Monkey Mind, Fort Lewis College Art Gallery, Durango CO
1999
Blue Sky, College of the Mainland Fine Arts Gallery, Texas City TX
1997
Carried Away, Rudolph Poissant Gallery, Houston TX
1996
Container of Meaning, Fotofest, Houston TX
1993
Rings, Balls, and Trees, Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, Waco TX,  Curator: Heidi Hornik
1992
Requiem for Huge Oaks, Diverseworks, Houston TX
Selected Group Exhibitions and Installations
2017
Recent Prints and Projects from Manneken Press, Wakeley Gallery at Illinois Weslayan University, Bloomington IL
2016
Declaration, Viewing Room, Robischon Gallery, Denver CO
Learning to See Color, Denver University Vicki Myhren Gallery, Denver CO Curators: Dan Jacobs, Jeffrey Keith
Colorado Women in Abstraction, Center for Visual Art, Denver CO, Curator: Michael Paglia
2015
New Work, Robischon Gallery, Denver CO
2014
New Prints 2014, International Print Center New York and Christie’s New York
Colorado Contemporary, Curfman Gallery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO,  Juror: Nora Burnett Abrams, MCA Denver
2013
Materialized, Robischon Gallery, Denver CO
2012
Construct: Kate Petley and Rusty Scruby, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe NM
2011
New Mexorado, The Harwood Museum,Taos NM,  Juror: Libby Lumpkin
Specific Environments: Landscape as Metaphor, Lincoln Center, Fort Collins CO,  Curator: Leanne Hasse Goebel
2010
4 x 4, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Curator: Caitlin Green
2008
The Best Choice Houston Arts Alliance and City Hall, Houston TX,  Juror: Emily Todd, The Houston Endowment
2007
Similar Differences: Kate Petley and Sheila Klein, Art League Houston
Hot Pursuit: Eight Artists from Southwestern Colorado, Adams State College, Alamosa CO,  Curator: Jerry Riggs
2005
Exposed: Selected Artists, Cultural Arts Council of Houston Harris County
2004
Rocky Mountain Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Art, Fort Collins CO
Surfaces, William Campbell Contemporary Art, Ft. Worth TX
2003
Plastic Fantastic, Exhibit A, New York NY
Luscious, Judish Fine Art at Andenken Gallery, Denver CO
2002
Archipelago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver CO, Curator: Ann Shostrum
2001
Reaction, Exit Art, New York NY
Sky, Arvada Center for the Arts and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
2000
The End of History, Judish Fine Art, Denver CO
Assistance League of Houston Celebrates Art 2000,  Juror: Bruce Guenther Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach CA
Fotofest 2000, Site-specific Installation, Houston TX,  Curator: Wendi Watriss
1997
Los Angeles National Juried Exhibition 2, Spanish Kitchen Gallery, Los Angeles CA
Second Texas Annual, The Contemporary Art Center, Fort Worth TX
1996
The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston TX
1995
‘O’ A House Installation, with Dan Havel and Dean Ruck, Houston TX
The Evocative Object, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington TX
1994
Kate Petley and Michael Whitehead, Longview Museum of Art, Longview TX
Low Tech, CRCA, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington TX,  Curator: Sue Graves
1993
The Texas Biennial, Fair Park, Dallas TX
Recent Work, Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi TX, Curator: Jim Edwards
Sculptors Known and Underknown, One Allen Center, Houston TX,  Curator: Sally Reynolds
13th Annual Outdoor Exhibition, Nelson Sculpture Park, Abilene TX
1992
The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston TX
1991
Installation, Mariposa Sculpture Park, Corpus Christi TX
Grants, Residencies, and Awards
2017
How to Flatten a Mountain, Residency and Exhibition Project for PhotoIreland, Dublin
Visiting Artist, Trinity University, San Antonio TX
Monoprint Series, Manneken Press, Bloomington IL, Jonathan Higgins, Publisher
2016
Ucross Foundation Fellowship, Sheridan WY
Peripheral Vision Publication Fellowship, Dallas TX
Monoprint Series, Manneken Press, Bloomington IL, Jonathan Higgins, Publisher
2015
Invitational Artist Residency, Franz Mayer of Munich Glass, Munich, Germany
2013
Monoprint Series, Manneken Press, Bloomington IL, Jonathan Higgins, Publisher
2008
Artist Residency and Teaching Intensive, PlatteForum, Denver CO
1995
Special Opportunity Grant, Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County
1992
Texas Visual Arts Alliance Ninth Annual Exhibition, First Place Award  Juror: Suzanne Delehanty, Director, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
1990
New Forms Regional Grant Initiative (NFRIG), National Endowment for the Arts and The Rockefeller Foundation
Selected Public Commission Experience
2013
Finalist City of Denver West Colfax Transit Shelters
2011
Finalist Potomac Yard Transitway, Arlington County VA
2009
Finalist Los Angeles County Arts Commission, El Cariso Project, Los Angeles CA
2008
Permanent Public Commission, Federal Reserve Bank Kansas City MO
Permanent Public Commission, UCLA Hospital Santa Monica CA
2007
Permanent Public Commission, Grand Oaks Project, Pasadena CA 
2004
Permanent Public Commission, Bush Intercontinental Airport, City of Houston
2003
Permanent Public Commission, Donovan Park Terrace Town of Vail
1997
Permanent Public Art Commission, City of Houston Hike & Bikeway Bridge
Selected Bibliography
2017
Paglia, Michael: 8 Solos Add Up to a Major Look at Contemporary Abstraction Westword Denver, January 25
2016
Vasari21 Feature Interview by Ann Landi April 26
2015
Kinetic: Highlights from the Polsinelli Art Collection, Forward by Barbara O’Brien, Executive Director, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
Paglia, Michael: Getting the Most Out of Minimalism, Westword Denver, June 2
2014
New American Painting Issue 114 Juror: Nora Abrams, MCA Denver
Paglia, Michael: Conceptual Abstraction, Westword Denver, February 19
slightlywonky blog, Featured Post February 7
2013
sketch24blog, Featured Post July 13
Froyd, Susan: 100 Colorado Creatives, Westword Denver, June 11
2012
Studio Visit Magazine, Juror: Jonathan Greene, New York NY
Goebel, Leanne: Specific Environments Landscape as Metaphor, Catalogue Essay
Abatemarco, Michael: Binary Visions, Pasatiempo, The Santa Fe New Mexican June 15
2011
Studio Visit Magazine, Juror: Beth Venn, Newark Museum, Newark NJ
The Huffington Post: Goebel, Leanne: What’s Missing from Colorado’s Top Ten List Jan 4
2010
Berkovitch, Ellen: Contemporary in Denver, Adobe Airstream October 24
Hatchadoorian, Lisa: The Spaces In Between, The Nicolaysen Museum of Art Catalogue Essay
2009
New American Painting Anniversary Edition
2007
Phelps, Janet: Similar Differences, Art League Houston, Essay for Exhibition
Keppler, Nick: Through the Looking Glass, Houston Press January 3
2006
New American Painting Issue 66  Juror: Ian Berry, Tang Museum of Art
2005
Greene, Alison: ‘O’ A House Installation at Ten Years, Gulf Coast Fall Issue
Temple, Georgia: Artist Tackles Small Details, Midland Reporter Telegram May 22
2004
New American Painting Issue 54 Juror: Lynn Herbert, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston TX
Murphy, Laurie Lynnxe: Profile Kate Petley, Eye Level, Spring Issue Denver CO
2002
Indyke, Dottie: CCA Installation Exaggerates Vulnerability of Humans, Albuquerque Journal
Winslow, Kate: Inhale, Interview for Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe NM
2001
Paglia, Michael: Good Heavens, Westword Denver November 8
Chandler, Mary Voelz: Big Blue Wonder, Rocky Mountain News Denver  September 15
2000
Chandler, Mary Voelz: Abstraction Meets Realism, Denver Rocky Mountain News June 2
Wilson, Wade: Inhale, Essay for Diverseworks, Houston TX
1997
Anspon, Catherine: Kate Petley Carries Us Away, Houston Public News December 11
Dewan, Shaila: A Gift to be Simple, Houston Press March 13
1996
Johnson, Patricia: Full Frames, Houston Chronicle March 14
Peters, Patrick: Casa Lucida, Casa Obscura, Rice University Cite Magazine
1995   Wilson, Wade: Evocative Object, Essay for Exhibition, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington TX
Merino, Tony: Evocative Object at the Arlington Museum of Art, Artlies September
Kutner, Janet: Object: Evokes the Fragile and Unique, Dallas Morning News July 19
Smith, Stephanie: ‘O’ A House Installation, Artlies July
Ward, Elizabeth: ‘O’ A House Installation, CRCA Magazine Winter Issue
Johnson, Patricia: The Art Shack, Houston Chronicle  April 29
1994
Kutner, Janet: Artists Take the Low Tech Road, Dallas Morning News June 5
Graze, Sue: Low Tech, CRCA Magazine, University of Texas Arlington
1993
Chadwick, Susan: Sculpture on the Green, Houston Post September 9
Johnson, Patricia: Sculpture on the Green, Houston Chronicle October 14
Edwards, Jim: The 13th Annual Sculpture Exhibition, Essay for Exhibition, Abilene TX
George, Ron: Contemporary Art Invades Coastal Bend, The Corpus Christi Caller Times
Something Old, Something New, The Corpus Christi Caller Times August 22
Edwards, Jim: Kate Petley and Kent Rush, Essay for Exhibition, Museum of South Texas
Hornik, Heidi: Rings, Balls, and Trees, Essay for Exhibition, Martin Museum Baylor University, Waco TX
Collections
Houston Airport System
The Nicolaysen Museum, Casper WY
The Federal Reserve Bank, Kansas City MO
Polsinelli LLC, Dallas TX, Chicago IL, and Denver CO (Catalogue)
Suntrust Bank, Atlanta GA
Intercontinental Exchange, Atlanta GA
Osage Art Consultancy, Hong Kong
Fidelity Investments, Denver CO and Boston MA
UCLA Hospital Santa Monica CA
Denver Children’s Hospital, Denver CO
The City of Houston
The Town of Vail, Vail CO
The Ritz Carlton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Caesar’s Palace Hotel Corporations
Park South Hotel, New York NY
Propriety Capital, Denver CO
Morgan Stanley, San Francisco CA
Vail Industries, Chicago IL
Private Collections throughout the United States