Autumn 2020 in London
(above: 'Cowgirl', 36 inches square canvas, 2019. (Sold))
All shows Kate was to participate in here and abroad have now been cancelled for this Autumn and early Winter due to the pandemic and its ongoing severe effect in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe and the United States. The London-based gallery which currently represents her, After Nyne, has not yet re-opened in 'real life' and will not do so in 2020.
However, Kate's work will continue to be be shown online in 2020 in partnership with After Nyne in a variety of online solo and group shows, which can be found by getting in touch with After Nyne or by following Kate on Instagram.
In addition, Kate will continue to offer Artist Support Pledge (ASP) small works from time to time on Instagram and on her website at least until the end of 2020 and likely into 2021. Kate has been overwhelmed with the reaction to these smaller works, all of which have been sold within hours of their availability. Enormous congratulations are in order for Matthew Burrows, founder of the Artist Support Pledge platform, on being awarded a well merited MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by the British Prime Minister in October 2020, for his contribution to the arts and artists with this initiative. ASP has now generated over £60 million in direct sales for artists worldwide since its inception in only March 2020. This platform encourages artists to offer smaller works directly to collectors online, and in return for artists to invest in other artists' works, creating a positive and transparent arts cycle that is healthy and self-sustaining.
With prior arrangement, limited (socially distant and masked) studio visits are currently possible for UK based collectors seeking larger works by Kate. A number of her works have been sold to collectors these past 6 months through the studio, and via online sales at After Nyne, AAF, 1st Dibs, Artsy.net and Saatchi Art as well as via collector commissions in London.
Kate has been very fortunate also to have been awarded several arts grants in this period, with enormous thanks to Collage Arts, the Haringey Borough Council's Regeneration Team, and the London Mayor's Council for the Arts for this vital support. The grants have allowed her to retain her studio despite exhibition cancellations and lengthy periods when, due to the pandemic, she is not able to access to the studio to work.
In a new effort, working in collaboration with James Stewart, Kate is co-curating an online Open Call this Autumn "You Are Here" via @katmapped on Instagram. The aim of this Open Call is to bring more artists together for collaborations and to amplify their work in these isolated times. This is an effort by artists for artists. If successful further Open Calls will occur in 2021.
Thank you once again to all the collectors and organisations who have made the past six months viable for Kate and other artists working in this time period. The dichotomy of the arts being brought to their knees by extensive lockdowns and patchy governmental approaches to the pandemic versus collectors' impacts on artists' livelihoods --by purchasing works from living artists in record numbers -- has been intense, and deeply humbling.
Dum anima est, spes est. - KAT
