Katherine Bernhardt’s works, made with spray paint and washes of acrylic, vibrate with formal juxtapositions and varied content. Her work has been the subject of exhibitions at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the St. Louis Contemporary Art Museum among others.
Piñones by Katherine Bernhardt depicts two coconut waters on the sand of Piñones next to the Mangrove Forest, an amazing natural environment outside San Juan. Since Bernhardt had her first solo show on Borikén fifteen years ago, she has traveled frequently to Puerto Rico to paint, show her work, and learn from the island’s murals, architecture, painted towns, natural wonders, markets, and most especially through relationships she has built with the artists she meets there. She considers the island a second home, and enjoys all that San Juan has to offer her as an active artist at work in the midst of its stimulating history, culture, color, music, architecture, art, markets, philosophy, aesthetics, and more.
“I created a colourful print for the non-profit COPI (Corporación Piñones se Integra) featuring two coconut waters on the sand of Piñones next to the Mangrove Forest, an amazing natural environment outside San Juan. The image in the print depicts coco frio, a coconut water you can enjoy while at Piñones and based on the amazing hand-painted signage for this beverage that is advertised around the area. I have been traveling to Puerto Rico for many years and have gotten to know the island as an artist by showing my work there and by making work there. I also learned a lot from Puerto Rico’s murals, architecture, painted towns, natural wonders, markets and most especially through relationships I have been building with the artists I met there. While making the print I visited COPI, a team working to develop Piñones as its residents aspire to ‘transform the community into a space of greater cooperation, justice and solidarity.’ Like COPI, I wish that Piñones retains its natural beauty and biodiversity while also developing to serve its citizens.” — Katherine Bernhardt.
This artwork presents a vivid depiction of two luscious yellow fruits, likely pears, set against a dynamic blue backdrop. The artist employs bold, flowing strokes in watercolor, creating a sense of movement and spontaneity. The fruits rest on a striped surface, adding a contrasting pattern that subtly grounds the composition. Splashes of darker hues, possibly representing shadows or imperfections, provide depth and texture, evoking a realistic yet abstract quality. The blue background suggests a serene sky or ocean, enhancing the piece's freshness. This striking interplay of colors and forms exemplifies an innovative approach to traditional still life, focusing on the vibrancy and vitality of nature. The overall composition, with its fluidity and vivid palette, captures a moment of everyday beauty in an abstract interpretation.
The Hangaram Art Museum at the Seoul Arts Center presents the world’s first and largest retrospective of Katherine Bernhardt, an artist who continues to forge a distinctive path in the contemporary art world with her bold and uninhibited visual language.
This comprehensive showcase brings together around 140 paintings and sculptures, tracing Bernhardt’s artistic journey from her early 2000s supermodel series to her newest works, created especially for this exhibition in Korea.
The exhibition unfolds across five thematic sections, arranged chronologically to highlight key periods in her life and work. The final section features a large recreation of her studio in St. Louis, Missouri, where some of her newest works will be unveiled to the public for the first time.
This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on her fearless, bold painterly approach and offers a moment to reconsider how we perceive visual language in our everyday lives through the experience of contemporary art.