Part of Master Drawings New York, The Kingdom of the Renaissance is an exhibition of works by Karen Kilimnik and her old master predecessors, curated by Mireille Mosler.
Inspired by a variety of sources, from old masters to present day, Kilimnik conjoins components while constructing her own universe. From depictions of royal menageries of the Renaissance through public figures' pooches, the artist filters her inner imaginary world through source material procured from books and museum exhibitions. Early works on paper from the 1980s and more recent paintings are paired with Renaissance sculptures, paintings and drawings from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries.
Inspired by a variety of sources, from old masters to present day, Kilimnik conjoins components while constructing her own universe. From depictions of royal menageries of the Renaissance through public figures' pooches, the artist filters her inner imaginary world through source material procured from books and museum exhibitions. Early works on paper from the 1980s and more recent paintings are paired with Renaissance sculptures, paintings and drawings from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries.
Animals in Kilimnik’s world are actors in their own universe, substituting princesses and movie stars. Sometimes appropriating old master paintings, Kilimnik’s titles, however, add another layer to this magical world rather than paying abject homage to her precursors.
Kilimnik’s dinner in the alley, a small canvas from 2010, shows a dog guarding his meal from a vigilant cat, while following Jan Baptist Weenix’s (1621–60) much larger composition. Other paintings, such as friends in the woods and the witche's familiars in the woods (both 2010) reveal Kilimnik’s inspiration and witty interaction with an oil sketch by Jan Fyt (1611–61).
There is no contiguity in Kilimnik’s encounters with old masters: it is her fictitious fantasy that jumps the narrative and makes us believe you can be in any existence of your own choosing.
Napoleon + favorite camel, Hector at the pyramids of Giza, Egypt, a pastel from 1987, is shown alongside a cavalryman by French academician Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1815–91) providing us a construed narrative as we enter Kilimnik’s kingdom.
Napoleon + favorite camel, Hector at the pyramids of Giza, Egypt, a pastel from 1987, is shown alongside a cavalryman by French academician Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1815–91) providing us a construed narrative as we enter Kilimnik’s kingdom.
Karen Kilimnik
The Kingdom of the Renaissance
January 20–March 25, 2023