Beth Katleman

Beth Katleman (born 1959 in Park Forest, Illinois) is an American artist known for porcelain assemblage sculpture cast from found objects. Her allegorical installations fall within the genre of pop surrealism, combining decorative elements, such as Rococo embellishments and 19th century Toile de Jouy wallpaper scenery, with satirical references to consumer culture, fairy tales and classic literature. Katleman's work is in private and institutional collections and is exhibited internationally, including an installation commissioned by architect Peter Marino for Christian Dior, in the Hong Kong and London flagship boutiques. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, and is the recipient of the 2011 Moët Hennessey Prize, a Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation grant, the Watershed Generation X Award, a Kohler Arts/Industry Fellowship and a residency in Cortona, Italy sponsored by the University of Georgia, Athens. Katleman holds a BA in English from Stanford University, an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and an MBA in Arts Management from UCLA. between nature and culture; order and chaos; kitsch and fine art; dark humor and optimism; consumption and desire. Her sculpture is informed by parallels and differences between classic European decorative arts and American pop culture. Toile de Jouy wallpaper found in Versailles and the Victoria and Albert Museum; and time studying Italian porcelain reliefs in the Salottino di Porcellana room at the Royal Palace of Capodimonte, Naples, which she visited during an artist residency at the American Academy in Rome.

Her early work incorporated bright colored glazes, gold details and overt references to pop art. In 2019 the Rhode Island School of Design Museum invited Katleman to create a site-specific installation in response to the 1969 exhibition Raid the Icebox I with Andy Warhol. The molds used to produce the castings are made after combinations of source materials are experimented with, using digital imaging software and hand drawn renderings. These 2D compositions are then used to visualize placement while working with figures from her studio library of objects. 2016- Unconventional Clay, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri 2016- Contemporary Clay: A Survey of Contemporary American Ceramics, Western Carolina University Fine Arts Museum, Cullowee, North Carolina 2015- Tchotchke: Mass-Produced Sentimental Objects in Contemporary Art, The Gund Gallery, Gambier, Ohio 2011- Flora and Fauna: MAD about Nature, Museum of Art and Design, New York, New York 2011- Folly, Jane Hartsock Gallery, New York, New York 2008- The Diane and Sandy Besser Collection, M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California 1998- Bathroom, Thomas Healy Gallery, New York, New York, curated by Wayne Koestenbaum 1994- Artists from the Archie Bray Foundation, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, Montana and University of Washington Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington

Collections

Nike, United States M. H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California Christian Dior Boutique, London Christian Dior, Hong Kong Ci Kim Arario Gallery Collection, South Korea John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin Kohler Company Collection, Kohler, Wisconsin Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana Right Management, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Rhode Island Kamm Teapot Foundation, Sparta, North Carolina