Kerry Louise Bennett
Kerry Louise Bennett makes vibrant works loaded with texture and pattern. Her previous lives working in set design, furniture restoration and photography, and her love of Magical Realism in literature and music, all feed into the semi-abstract interior and still life compositions she paints. Elements in the paintings are informed by memories rather than being drawn directly from life. Instead, she conjures objects intuitively to serve her sense of spatial orchestration with the abstract sensibility of a process-led artist. However, an essence of romance and storytelling always seems to emerge in her charming characterful paintings.
Like the conductor of an unruly orchestra, Bennett works over multiple layers before finding the story the painting wants to tell. Colour & composition, strong mark-making, and the essential materiality of paint drive her practice, and, while people are absent in her still lifes, each one contains a strong sense of the personality of the creator – the introvert, the observer, the dreamer.
Kerry’s work is held in private collections in the UK, USA & Europe.
“I am a painter, a lover of colour, texture and narrative. Sensitive, curious, bold, and messy I find freedom in the act of painting, and a deep satisfaction in the resolution of the visual conundrums that emerge when I embark on a conversation with the canvas. The process is instinctive, and there can be many passes over the canvas before the final work appears. I find it so fascinating that my chaotic approach often results in paintings that exude a real sense of calm contained in such a riot of colour!”
Recent Shows:
Shortlisted for Cosimo Art Prize 2023
‘Collection 7’, March – May 2023 Katherine Richards Gallery, Hove
‘Form’ Group show, March – May 2023, Highgate Contemporary Art, London
‘We Called Yesterday Today’, group show, Jan - March 2023, Cupola Contemporary Art, Sheffield
‘Precious Postcards’, group show, Art and People, Bristol, December 2022
‘Food For Thoughts’ group show curated by p-ArtFactory, Mercato Mayfair, London
‘Accessible Art Show’ group show, Nov 2022 - Black White Gallery, London
‘50x50’ group show, The Auction Collective, London, Nov 2022
‘Art on a Postcard’ Winter auction, The Bomb Factory Covent Garden, London Nov 2022
'The Great Little Picture Show' Nov 2022 – Dovecot Gallery, Doncaster
'Art Post Originals' Nov 2022 – The Art Post, Sheffield
‘Winter to Spring’ group show, April 2022 Highgate Contemporary Art, London
‘Carnivals of Clouds’ group show, March 2022, Janet Rady Fine Art, London
‘Scion’ group show, Jan 2022 Cupola Contemporary Art, Sheffield
'The Great Little Picture Show' Nov 2021 – Dovecot Gallery, Doncaster
‘Postcard Show’, Nov 2021 Highgate Contemporary Art London
‘Portrayal’ group show, Sept 2021 – Dovecot Gallery, Doncaster
‘Art in the Gardens’ group show, Aug 2021 Botanical Gardens, Sheffield
‘Summer Solstice’ group show, June 2021, Fronteer Gallery Sheffield
‘Re-Cultivate’ group show, Jan 2021 Cultivate Gallery, London