It’s Proof That Counts

Reference monograph

This extensive monograph gives, for the first time, a detailed insight into the work of Scottish artist Karla Black (*1972 in Alexandria, lives and works in Glasgow). Reflecting the ephemeral nature of her work, the monograph resembles an artist’s sketchbook that is still in the process of being used. Plaster, chalk dust, and Vaseline, or substances such as face powder, lipstick, and nail varnish are often the raw materials. These delicate works—whether transparent cellophane arranged sculpturally to hang from the ceiling, or fragile works of gossamer-fine powder sprinkled onto the floor—present references to the Minimal and Conceptual art of the 1960s and 1970s. Karla Black extends the classical notion of sculpture through a process-oriented, performative handling of cultural connotations and untypical materials. Not only does she create an oppositional model to the brute effect of Minimal art, but through the use of unstable and simple substances her work ties into the history of “anti form,” as defined notably by Robert Morris in his use of felt, or Eva Hesse in her deployment of latex.

Published in association with the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Kunstverein Hamburg, Modern Art Oxford, and Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.