Kat Barr
(Out)Body
2023
Oil paint on wood, 30” x 24”
Artist statement
(Out)Body explores what it means to be a consumable object in capitalist culture. It was created with these questions in mind: How has a panoptic gaze historically been used to reassert power dynamics? How is gaze intrinsically built into the production and consumption of art? The figure in (Out)Body asks the viewer to examine their looking relationship, willing the viewer to enter a discourse about the gaze.
Artist’s biography
Kat Barr is a visual artist living and working in Montreal. With a major in Painting and Drawing, they graduated with a BFA from Concordia University, and recently attended a residency at the New York Academy of Art. Barr has exhibited in group shows at WIP, VAV Gallery, Atelier Galerie 2112, among others. Their current work is an exploration of identity, space, and texture. Barr’s drawing practice is primarily focused on intuitive mark-making; abstract patterning is used to create a sense of space and inner-psyche. In their paintings, Barr often uses the figure to address questions in the work, exploring our realities through an explicitly human lens.
