Kings Road Gallery & Tanya Baxter Contemporary, London, United Kingdom

Sunset by Katarina Monnier

Katarina Monnier Biography

Paris, France 1962-

Katarina Monnier studied at the Sorbonne and has lived in several different countries such as Morocco, Sweden, France, Brazil, the USA and Sri Lanka. Between 1986 and 1990, Monnier became a Custom Jewelry and Accesories Designer for ?Haute Couture? and then moved on to Fashion Designing in Paris and in Rio de Janeiro. It was only in 1990, that she began her artistic career in Paris as a professional painter and sculptor.

Katarina Monnier is an established French artist that has become recognised for her stunning use of colour in abstract compositions. Her earlier paintings expressed her emotional response to landscape, but her most recent work is inspired by the art of the Renaissance. Her source of inspiration came from two artists in particular: the great Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525- 1569) and the Italian artist Jacopo Pontormo (1494?1556). Katarina Monnier was seduced by these artists not so much for the subject matter of their paintings but more for the way they used colours to reflect their emotions towards a given theme. As before, her abstract compositions are divided into sections by horizontal bands, giving an underlying geometric framework to the painting. Within these divisions, Monnier uses harmonic or complementary colours as prescribed by Goethe in his Theory of Colour of 1810, both to create a balance in the composition and to increase the intensity of the colours.

Attracted to the art of both northern and southern Europe, Katarina Monnier is also drawn towards the East and Buddhist philosophy. Her art expresses her belief in the quest for "Yasuragi", the Japanese term signifying the harmony of all elements in nature. Built up layer upon layer to create intensely luminous images, her meditative works have a universal quality.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS.

1993 Gallery 706, Colombo

1996 LKF The Gallery, Hong Kong

1997 Alliance Francaise, Singapore

1998 Mountcastle Gallery, Colombo

2000 Kings Road Gallery, London

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1994 Gallery 706, Colombo

1995 Galerie Carlhian, Paris

1997 Alliance Francaise/ Hilton, Colombo

1998 Salon D'Automne, Paris

1999 National Gallery, Colombo

Hilton, Colombo

2000 Artfolio, Singapore

Artworks Represented In Collections Worldwide.

USA, France, England, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Austria, China.

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Park 97, Shanghai

ABN Amro, Colombo

World Trade Centre, Colombo

PUBLICATIONS

1993 Sri Lanka National Television, Colombo

1995 Daily News, UK

The Observer, UK

Sunday Times, UK

Elle Decoration, Hong Kong

1996 Elle Decoration, Singapore

Economic Times, Singapore

The Evening Post, Singapore

Ming Pao Daily News, Singapore

Hong Kong Standard, Singapore

Hong Kong Standard, Singapore

Ta Kung Pao, Singapore

1998 Lien Magazine, Singapore

Sunday Times, Colombo

The Observer, Colombo

©2009 PicassoMio - All rights reserved.