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The Covering: Cathie Pilkington, Pierre Molinier and Morton Bartlett

Past exhibition
14 February - 3 July 2020 Karsten Schubert London
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Overview
The Covering, Cathie Pilkington, Pierre Molinier and Morton Bartlett

On entering Karsten Schubert London’s new exhibition The Covering: Cathie Pilkington, Pierre Molinier and Morton Bartlett, visitors to Room 2 are greeted by a rare example of American outsider artist Morton Bartlett’s plaster dolls. Dressed in a garment made by sculptor Cathie Pilkington, she forms a mediating presence between the staged erotic photographs of Pierre Molinier and Pilkington’s immersive site-specific installation.

 

Either side of the Morton Bartlett (1909–92), are five photographs from Pierre Molinier’s (1900–76) celebrated series Cent photographies érotiques. These self-portraits show the artist in staged fetish ensembles, often posed with mannequin parts and S&M paraphernalia. The artist’s face is frequently covered by a doll’s mask, adding to the disquieting sense of the uncanny in his work.

 

Completely occupying the next room of this Soho townhouse, Cathie Pilkington’s installation uses a diverse array of fabrics, materials, mirrors and studio furniture to dress the space, literally concealing figures and objects. Pilkington’s intricately sculpted and painted Pieta 2 forms the centrepiece and below it two largescale semi-nude feminine figures sit on platforms, their faces and bodies partially obscured by blankets. Included are new sculptures, fabric pieces and prints by Cathie Pilkington made for the exhibition.

 

At once referencing an artist’s studio, religious imagery and the historical depiction of women’s bodies, Cathie Pilkington’s installation creates an ambivalent dialogue with the work of Molinier, Bartlett and other artists who have come before her, provoking questions about the lines between art, craft, and ritual. In titling her installation The Covering, Pilkington refers to Harold Bloom’s image of ‘the covering cherub’: an obstructing figure that blocks the artist’s attempt to create a self-contained identity by dumping before her the indispensable and problematic baggage of art history.

Cathie Pilkington is an artist whose work engages passionately and critically with the canonical history of figurative sculpture. Crossing borders of traditional, modern and contemporary idioms, her work combines intensively modelled and painted sculptures within immersive installations comprising a diverse array of props, materials and studio furniture. Her site responsive installations are balanced ambivalently between chaos and precision and have been described as a kind of art historical fly-tipping.

Pierre Molinier was deemed ‘the magician of erotic art’ by André Breton and self-styled himself as a depraved figure without morals. His erotic play with identity and ingenious use of staging and photomontage has influenced artists such as Cindy Sherman and Robert Mapplethorpe.

 

Morton Bartlett sculpted and clothed plaster dolls for staged photography, a private pursuit that was only rediscovered after his death. Karsten Schubert London is grateful to the David Roberts Collection for loaning this work for The Covering.


The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring a new essay by Neil Walton. 

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Works
  • Cathie Pilkington Installation view: The Covering, 2020
    Cathie Pilkington
    Installation view: The Covering, 2020
  • Cathie Pilkington Installation view: The Covering, 2020
    Cathie Pilkington
    Installation view: The Covering, 2020
  • Cathie Pilkington Installation view: The Covering, 2020
    Cathie Pilkington
    Installation view: The Covering, 2020
  • Cathie Pilkington Installation view: The Covering, 2020
    Cathie Pilkington
    Installation view: The Covering, 2020
  • Pierre Molinier With the Doll on His Lap, c. 1960 Vintage silver gelatin print 14.8 x 11.2 cm | 5 7/8 in x 4 3/8 in
    Pierre Molinier
    With the Doll on His Lap, c. 1960
    Vintage silver gelatin print
    14.8 x 11.2 cm | 5 7/8 in x 4 3/8 in
  • Pierre Molinier Study for 'Mandrake se Regale, 1967 Vintage silver gelatin print 14.1 x 10.3 cm | 5 1/2 x 4 1/8 in
    Pierre Molinier
    Study for 'Mandrake se Regale, 1967
    Vintage silver gelatin print
    14.1 x 10.3 cm | 5 1/2 x 4 1/8 in
  • Pierre Molinier Luciano Castelli, 1974 Vintage silver gelatin print 18 x 12.5 cm | 7 1/8 x 4 7/8 in
    Pierre Molinier
    Luciano Castelli, 1974
    Vintage silver gelatin print
    18 x 12.5 cm | 7 1/8 x 4 7/8 in
  • Pierre Molinier Eperon d'amour [The Love Spur], 1967 Vintage silver gelatin print 14 x 18 cm | 5 1/2 x 7 1/8 in
    Pierre Molinier
    Eperon d'amour [The Love Spur], 1967
    Vintage silver gelatin print
    14 x 18 cm | 5 1/2 x 7 1/8 in
  • Pierre Molinier, Autoportrait, c. 1960
    Pierre Molinier, Autoportrait, c. 1960
  • Cathie Pilkington Morton Bartlett, 'Untitled (Standing Girl) (NFS);, c. 1950-60, re presented by Cathie Pilkington as 'The Covering Cherub', 2020 Plaster with polychrome and fibre Painted linen, canvas, cotton, polyester, tyvek Doll: 76.2 x 27.9 x 24.1 cm | 30 x 11 x 91/2 in Dress: 67.5 x 31 cm | 26 5/8 x 12 1/4 in
    Cathie Pilkington
    Morton Bartlett, 'Untitled (Standing Girl) (NFS);, c. 1950-60, re presented by Cathie Pilkington as 'The Covering Cherub', 2020
    Plaster with polychrome and fibre
    Painted linen, canvas, cotton, polyester, tyvek
    Doll: 76.2 x 27.9 x 24.1 cm | 30 x 11 x 91/2 in
    Dress: 67.5 x 31 cm | 26 5/8 x 12 1/4 in
Close
Publications
  • Cathie Pilkington, Pierre Molinier and Morton Bartlett

    Cathie Pilkington, Pierre Molinier and Morton Bartlett

    The Covering 2020
    Softcover 23pp pages
    Dimensions: 25 x 17 cm
    Read more

Related artists

  • Pierre Molinier

    Pierre Molinier

  • Cathie Pilkington

    Cathie Pilkington

Back to Past exhibitions

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London W1F 0LP, UK

tel: +44 (0)20 7734 9002

info@karstenschubert.com

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