Caroline Walker
Born 1982, Dunfermline (UK)
Lives and works in London (UK)
Caroline Walker’s largescale canvases and intimate scenes depict anonymous women in settings that blur the boundaries between public and private. Her paintings hint at the narrative possibilities of the women pictured in different settings, but their stories are never fully revealed to the viewer. Initially Walker’s process involved hiring models and staging domestic scenes which she photographed and used as the source material for her paintings. Walker meticulously determined the position of visual signifiers in these psychologically charged spaces, subverting archetypes of gender and relationships. In 2016, she adopted a more documentarian approach, stepping out into the streets of London to profile women at work in restaurants, nail bars, hair salons, and hotels. As a commission for Kettle’s Yard (Cambridge, UK) Walker collaborated with the charity Women for Refugee Women in 2017 to make a series of paintings of women refugees and asylum seekers. This experience deepened her interest in the invisibility of female-dominated professions, such as retail, hospitality, and cleaning, and labor that is often undervalued or taken for granted. Walker has broadened the scope of her paintings to include women working in a wide range of positions, with a sensitivity to the figure’s role within the space and work environment. A sense of distance remains between the viewer and Walker’s subjects, pronounced by the seemingly voyeuristic framing of her compositions. At times, the countenance or body language of her subjects reveals a sense of discord between their surroundings and their thoughts and emotions. As a cohesive body of work, Walker’s paintings explore the performance of gender identity, femininity, and question the norms of depicting women and the female form across a range of socio-economic contexts.
Caroline Walker (b. 1982 in Dunfermline, UK) currently lives and works in London (UK), where she completed her MA at the Royal College of Art in 2009. Forthcoming solo presentations include a museum exhibition at GEM, Museum for Contemporary Art, The Hague (NL); Women’s work at Midland Arts Centre, Birmingham (UK); and JANET, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (UK). Recent solo exhibitions include, A Woman Sewing, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL) in 2019; service, GRIMM, New York, NY (US); Actions, Part 2: Home, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (UK); Sunset, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA (US) in 2018; Painted Ladies, Space K, Gwacheon (KR); Night Scenes, ProjectB, Milan (IT) in 2017; Bathhouse, Space K, Seoul (KR) in 2015; and Set Piece, ProjectB Gallery, Milan (IT) in 2014. Group exhibitions include, The Rising Tide: Women at Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, Cambridge (UK); María Berrío, Caroline Walker, Flora Yukhnovich, Victoria Miro Gallery, in association with The Great Women Artists, London (UK) in 2019; The World’s Your Oyster, ARTUNER, Palazzo Capris, Turin (IT); In The Company Of, curated by Katy Hessel, TJ Boulting, London (UK); Dialogues / New Painting from London, GASK, Kutná Hora (CZ); Actions. The image of the world can be different, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (UK) in 2018; Women Artists: A Conversation, Fine Art Society, London (UK);CURRENTS (with Nick Goss and Neil Raitt), curated by Tamar Arnon and Eli Zagury, Lin & Lin Gallery,Taipei (TW) in 2017, among others. sWalker is represented in a number of public collections including: the National Museum Wales, Cardiff (UK); UK Government Art Collection, London (UK); Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker (NO); Akzo Nobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam (NL); ING Art Collection, Amsterdam (NL); and Shetland Islands Council (UK).
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Frieze New York
Group presentation 8 - 16 May 2020 GRIMM Van Baerlestraat 80, Amsterdam (NL)Frieze presentation at GRIMM's new Van Baerlestraat 80 location in Amsterdam.Read more -
Caroline Walker
A Woman Sewing 30 Aug - 5 Oct 2019 GRIMM Keizersgracht 241, Amsterdam (NL) -
Caroline Walker
service 4 May - 3 Jun 2018 GRIMM 202 Bowery, New York, NY (US) -
Pop-up GRIMM Brussels
Group Exhibition 18 Apr - 5 May 2018 Ravensteinstraat 44, Brussels (BE), Other locations -
Caroline Walker
Actions. Part 2: Home 11 Apr - 7 May 2018 Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge (UK), Other locations -
Caroline Walker
The Racquet Club 2 Sep - 9 Oct 2016 Frans Halsstraat 26, Amsterdam (NL), Other locations -
A Question of Perspective
Group Exhibition 22 Jan - 5 Mar 2016 Frans Halsstraat 26, Amsterdam (NL), Other locations
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Caroline Walker - artist profile
Lizzie Cheatham McNairy, Matrons & Mistresses, December 2, 2020 -
Striking paintings by Caroline Walker of her mother cooking, cleaning and tidying at home
Katy Cowan, CREATIVE BOOM, March 16, 2020 -
The 'invisible' female workers of London – in pictures
Abigail Scantlebury, The Guardian, October 26, 2019 -
A Woman Sewing: Caroline Walker @ Grimm Gallery, Amsterdam
Sasha Bogojev, Juxtapoz , September 9, 2019 -
De schilderijen van Caroline Walker gluren naar binnen op Savile Row (in Dutch)
Sophia Zürcher, Het Parool, September 2, 2019 -
Caroline Walker – New Work
Het Parool, September 1, 2019 -
Pulp Fiction: The Endurance of the Perfect Pop Aesthetic
Sukayna Powell, Elephant, August 7, 2019 -
An Interview with Caroline Walker
Alisei Apollonio, Artuner, June 4, 2019 -
Caroline Walker paints the unseen women London's service industries
Ruby Boddington, It's Nice That, June 4, 2019 -
Caroline Walker's Paintings of Women Reclaim the Gaze
Holly Black, Elephant, October 28, 2018 -
Caroline Walker : au nom des femmes
Flo Ryne, Beware!, July 3, 2018 -
The new exhibitionists
Spectator Life, June 13, 2018 -
Episode 105: Caroline Walker
Brian Alfred, SOUND & VISION Podcast, May 4, 2018 -
O Privire În Viețile Lor
Iona Chira, Harper’s Bazaar Romania, April 6, 2018 -
Caroline Walker: Sunset at Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles
Jonathan Griffin, ArtReview, April 1, 2018 -
Kettle's Yard to launch new exhibition reflecting diversity of British art
Florence Hallett, Independent, February 11, 2018 -
Lives Interrupted
Liz Jobey, Financial Times, February 4, 2018 -
Cinematic Paintings Set in a Modernist Los Angeles Home
Holly Black, AnOther , January 29, 2018 -
If You Love The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, You'll Love These Paintings By Caroline Walker
Brienne Walsh, Forbes, January 26, 2018 -
Caroline Walker > California dreaming?
Matt Price, Fused Magazine, October 11, 2017 -
Caroline Walker. Illuminations, 2012. Oil on linen, 240 x 305 cm. © the artist. Caroline Walker. In Every Dream Home, 2
Emily Spicer, Studio International, October 4, 2017 -
The pull of Hockney’s pool paintings
Matthew Sperling, Apollo, February 4, 2017 -
Voyeur in zonnig resort (in Dutch)
Sophia Zürcher, Het Parool, September 30, 2016 -
Interview: Dr Rina Arya in conversation with Caroline Walker
Dr. Rina Arya, thisistomorrow, May 23, 2016 -
The Scottish Connection
Matt Price, Flash Art, November 6, 2015 -
Enigmas: Caroline Walker’s lithographs and paintings
Matthew Sperling, Apollo, August 15, 2014 -
Bad Intent: Caroline Walker's Paintings Give an Uneasy Edge to the Lifestyles of the rich and fabulous
Martin Newman, HuffPost, September 29, 2013 -
Caroline Walker: In Every Dream Home
Daisy Woodward, AnOther, July 19, 2013
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Janet
Caroline Walker Authors: Caroline Walker, Hettie Judah, 2020 Hardcover, 152 pages
Publisher: Anomie Publishing
ISBN: 9781910221266
Dimensions: 220 x 265 mm | 8.7 x 10.4 in Read more -
Picture Window
Caroline Walker Authors: Caroline Walker, Marco Livingstone with contributions by Dr Rina Arya, Lauren Elkin, Andrew Nairne, 2018 Softcover Monograph, 312 pages
Publisher: Anomie Publishing, London and GRIMM, Amsterdam | New York
ISBN: 9781910221181
Dimensions: 290 x 230 mm | 11.4 x 9.1 in Read more
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Caroline Walker in TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art
Caroline Walker October 26, 2019GRIMM is pleased to announce its participation in the 2019 TWO x TWO for AIDS and ART with Caroline Walker’s Guest Change, 2019. TWO x...Read more -
Caroline Walker - Book signing, GRIMM Frans Halsstraat, Amsterdam
14 December 2018 December 14, 2018GRIMM and Anomie Publishers are pleased to invite you to celebrate the launch of Picture Window , Caroline Walker’s first in-depth monograph. The artist will...Read more -
ARTIST’S TALK: CAROLINE WALKER
Caroline Walker October 17, 2018Artist Caroline Walker whose painting series ‘Home’ is on show in Art Exchange, will be in conversation with Natasha Walter, Director of Women for Refugee...Read more -
Book launch: Caroline Walker – Picture Window
Caroline Walker October 5, 2018Friday, October 5th 6.30 – 8.30 pm Hatchards Piccadilly 187 Piccadilly LondonRead more -
Actions Artists Interviews by Circuit – Kettle’s Yard
Caroline Walker February 22, 2018