Kate Vida - New Works October 6, 2007

Katie Vida
New Works
Saturday, October 6th – Saturday, November 10th
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, October 6th from 9 - 11pm
TARTINE
600 Guerrero Street
Curated by Brianna Toth
Katie Vida explores personal and spiritual questions through the lush environments
depicted in her paintings. From her landscapes emerge anthropomorphic forms and
mythologized figures who take part in a loosely-structured narrative not constrained
by linear time. This non-linear approach is a reflection of her studio practice as
she works on many pieces simultaneously, letting the paint itself become as much of
a subject as the characters and settings she creates with it. Influences range from
primitive compositional motifs to the paintings of Henri Rousseau and Titian. Both
whimsical and menacing, the tone of Vida's work is accentuated by vibrant color and
simplified form. In some scenes, amputated limbs, tents, television sets, as well as
portraits of family members and friends, are sprinkled among the abundant foliage.
In other scenarios, faceless men and grizzly bears both embrace and smother one
another. These moments of ambiguity create encounters that are at once playful and
violent, nostalgic and ominous.
***Katie Vida is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where she
received a BFA in painting in 2004. While a student at RISD, she took part in the
Yale Norfolk Summer Residency Program and the European Honors Program in Rome,
Italy.Vida has worked as an independent curator throughout San Francisco at The
Luggage Store Gallery, Cell Space, The LAB, and Root Division/Gallery 3175, among
others. An avid volunteer in the arts community, she has lent her support to
organizations such as Mural Arts in Philadelphia, City Kids in New York City, the
Luggage Store Gallery, and Mission Creek Music Festival in San Francisco.Vida
currently works with Adobe Books and Backroom Gallery and assists with set design
projects for Elastic Future Theatre Company. This is her first solo show.