Artist: Kate Mackeson
Exhibition title: Bourne
Venue: Sundy, London, UK
Date: February 17 – April 1, 2023
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Sundy, London
While installing the work I thought of this scene from the film Daisies1. The two irreverent protagonists, both named Marie, sit together on their bed cutting out images of food from magazines and guiding them with a fork into their open mouths; chew and swallow.
Satisfyingly so. A radical act of digestion performed in 1966, prior to any neoliberal paranoia but in defiance of the socialist spectre. I guess I felt the action they made, swallowing the image, felt almost like anticipating the future. Images are always marked for their nutritional values – high in carbs, calories and national interests. The two Marie’s absorb all environmental differences into their own homogenising selves. Is this process of eating and dissolving the world the fundamental material condition for their freedom? 2
Then there is Jason Bourne3 who is the eponymous fictional character. His cropped image, only used once, has been discreetly inserted within the plastic countenance of these economically sized and approximately shaped works. Sewn in a way to incorporate the fleshy, curved form of a pair of lips.
Kate Mackeson, Bourne, 2023, exhibition view, Sundy, London
Kate Mackeson, Bourne, 2023, exhibition view, Sundy, London
Kate Mackeson, Bourne, 2023, exhibition view, Sundy, London
Kate Mackeson, Bourne, 2023, exhibition view, Sundy, London
Kate Mackeson, Bourne, 2023, exhibition view, Sundy, London
Kate Mackeson, Bourne, 2023, exhibition view, Sundy, London
Kate Mackeson, Bourne, 2023, exhibition view, Sundy, London
Kate Mackeson, Bourne / Toxic Bright, 2023, Eyelet and digital, printed imitation, leather / acrylic and magazine cut outs on imitation leather / steel chain
Kate Mackeson, Bourne / Toxic Bright, 2023, Eyelet and digital, printed imitation, leather / acrylic and magazine cut outs on imitation leather / steel chain
Kate Mackeson, Bourne / Toxic Bright, 2023, Eyelet and digital, printed imitation, leather / acrylic and magazine cut outs on imitation leather / steel chain
Kate Mackeson, Marie & Marie, 2022, acrylic on imitation leather & digital print, acrylic and threads on imitation leather, 122 x 164 cm
Kate Mackeson, Marie & Marie, 2022, acrylic on imitation leather & digital print, acrylic and threads on imitation leather, 122 x 164 cm
Kate Mackeson, Marie & Marie, 2022, acrylic on imitation leather & digital print, acrylic and threads on imitation leather, 122 x 164 cm
Kate Mackeson, Prostheses, 2022, Faux leather, acrylic, metal chain, 25 x 25 x 6 cm
Kate Mackeson, Prostheses, 2022, Faux leather, acrylic, metal chain, 25 x 25 x 6 cm
Kate Mackeson, Blush, 2023, mirror ball and acrylic on imitation leather / steel chain, 198 x 26 cm
Kate Mackeson, Blush, 2023, mirror ball and acrylic on imitation leather / steel chain, 198 x 26 cm
Kate Mackeson, Pleased to meet you / Pleased to have you, 2022, acrylic and heart, button on imitation, leather / acrylic and digital print on imitation leather / steel chain, 107 x 215 cm
Kate Mackeson, Pleased to meet you / Pleased to have you, 2022, acrylic and heart, button on imitation, leather / acrylic and digital print on imitation leather / steel chain, 107 x 215 cm
Kate Mackeson, Pleased to meet you / Pleased to have you, 2022, acrylic and heart, button on imitation, leather / acrylic and digital print on imitation leather / steel chain, 107 x 215 cm
Kate Mackeson, Employee of the year, 2023, digital printed imitation leather, 177 x 40 x 30 cm