Katie Tomlinson
1996, Teesside; lives and works in Manchester.
Katie Tomlinson’s paintings reflect on the united experiences of women and explore a mix of emotions and ideas: intimacy, vulnerability, power structures, emotional dependency, alienation, self-empowerment, brutality, sexual desire, trauma, and exchange within relationships.
Using vivid colour and playful motifs the paintings depict various narratives, moments and actions. Seemingly recognisable interactions are made strange by the incorporation of symbolism, surreal imagery and gestural, abstracted marks that distort the imagery. This results in the paintings having two tempos. The first tempo refers to the initial reading of the painting, which draws the viewer in through its colour, texture and sometimes, abstraction. The second tempo refers to the discovery of darker and more complex narratives. The characters within the paintings demand further exploration, inviting questions about their identities, actions, motivations, and relationships with one another.
Tomlinson’s paintings directly reference salient moments within the history of art, in order to enhance and develop the painting’s narrative. The works wouldn’t exist without the canon of patriarchal art history, everything is reconsidered, viewed differently, stolen and stolen back.
The artist holds a BA in Fine Art from Manchester School of Art and an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in London. She was awarded the Basil H. Alkazzi Scholarship Award.
Katie Tomlinson’s work has been featured in numerous international exhibitions. Most recently, Tomlinson presented the solo exhibitions At Least Buy Me Dinner First, Brooke Benington, London (2022) and Fight the Moon, Paradise Works, Manchester (2022). Among the group exhibitions she has participated in are A Mirror to Vanity, Brooke Benington, London (2024); LET THE ABSENCE SPEAK, curated by Mattia Pizzani and Marta Orsola Sironi, Milan, Italy (2023); Buried in Affection, Galerie Supermarkt, Tokyo (2022); Stories, Bankley Gallery, Manchester (2022); Fayre Share Fayre, The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (2022); A star is just a memory of a star, Brooke Benington, London, online (2022); RAW, Soho Revue, London (2022); Obstructions, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester (2021).
Tomlinson will feature in the 40th anniversary exhibition titled 40 Years of the Future: Painting at Castlefield Gallery, Manchester from 24 March until 23 June. Tomlinson will also have a solo exhibition titled They Only Want You When You’re Seventeen at LKIF Gallery in Seoul from 6 April until 27 April.