Western Exhibitions is thrilled to present our first solo show, “Great!” with Cathrine Whited, whose deadpan drawings transform mundane and everyday items into revered icons. Whited’s charming, slyly simple drawings combine image and text to document and archive the world around her, with subjects ranging from household objects to food to cartoon characters. Her process starts with making a list — “What’s in my fridge” or “Things that make up a sandwich” — as a jumping off point. Each item on the list is drawn with graphite and colored pencil, distilled to its essential elements, and labeled underneath, akin to a Victorian-era scientific journals and classifications of nature. Whited is meticulous in this process as an index of erasures is often visible, marking her desire to render the image, and especially the text, perfectly. Her subject-centered renderings are neat, clean, and void of background and are a vehicle for viewers to isolate, experience, and analyze our collective everyday interaction with often overlooked objects and culture that surrounds us.
Cathrine Whited is a studio resident at Visionaries + Voices, a non-profit arts organization that provides support for artists with disabilities, offering them professional studio space and that allows them to grow professionally and personally. Whited has been included in shows at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Western Exhibitions in Chicago, The Riffe Gallery in Columbus, The Carnegie Art Center in Covington, KY, Indigo Hippo in Cincinnati, and Summertime Gallery in Brooklyn, her work has been written about on the website Elephant, The Columbus Dispatch and Hyperallergic, and has been featured on Bounty Paper Towels. She lives and works in Cincinnati.
The show will open with a free public reception on Friday, September 6, from 5 to 8pm at our Chicago location alongside a solo show by Aya Nakamura in Gallery One. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm.
Image: Turkey/Chicken , date unknown, graphite and colored pencil on bond paper, 8.5 x 11 inches
