Kate Daudy
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Kate Daudy (born 1970) is a British visual artist based in London whose interdisciplinary work focuses on the human experience in the context of the natural world. Her wide-ranging practice appears in the form of installations, mixed media, film, NFTs, participatory performance, sculpture, and writing. Daudy is recognized globally for her career, resulting in her inclusion in ''The Standard'''s London's Most Influential People in 2019. In 2022,
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nominated Daudy as one of 200 ‘visionaries’ in a global campaign. Her work has also been featured in ''
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'' News in Pictures, and
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.


Themes

The concept of writing on objects originates in the beginning of Chinese civilization, when tortoise shells and scapulae were used to predict the future. These 'oracle bones' would go through a process of being burnt in the embers of a fire; Chinese shamans would divine the future from the manner in which the bones and shells cracked and would subsequently inscribe their predictions on them. This was a practice particularly prevalent in the
Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...
(1600–1046 BC).Skyswright, V
“Daniel Eskenazi and Kate Daudy Present Selling Exhibition of Their Collaborative Work at Bonhams”
, "BONHAMS 1793" accessed 4 September 2011
The calligraphic writing or inscribing of poems onto objects became an elevated art form in itself, perpetuated by the ruling Emperors, who would compose poems to be inscribed onto paintings or works of art of special significance to them. By perpetuating this literary tradition as a contemporary plastic art form Daudy's work has brought these ancient concepts back to mainland China itself, where the tradition had been lost. Kate Daudy also creates written interventions, mostly in public spaces in nature, on walls and with fabric, based on an ancient Chinese literary practice of seeking to understand the universe through art and nature. Daudy's Chinese studies have driven an interest in calligraphy and Chinese philosophy, and have led to her working in a variety of mediums, including using felt fabric to create her writings. She uses felt as her medium, which is for her a symbol of redemption, as it is made from the rubbish of the fabric industry. Communication and connection are paramount concepts that Daudy works to consider within her work, a theme which extends to her use of collaborators within her practice, such as Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Konstantin Novoselov Sir Konstantin Sergeevich Novoselov ( rus, Константи́н Серге́евич Новосёлов, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ nəvɐˈsʲɵləf; born 1974) is a Russian–British physicist. His work on graphene ...
.


Career

Her first show "Written in Water" (2009) with Grant White at the Galerie Marie Victoire PoliakoffA. Bavelier, A. Bellon, E. Frois, A. Grandjanin, A. Héliot, T. Hilleriteau, C. Monsatir, O. Nuc, S.de Santis, MN.Tranchant, V. Sasporta
“Summer in Paris What to do during the second half of July?”
"Le Figaro", accessed 4 September 2011
in Paris examined the memories associated with items of clothing, inscribing vintage dresses with poems that reflected their identity.
Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
compared Daudy's and White's work to that of
Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...
and
Elsa Schiaparelli Elsa Schiaparelli ( , , ; 10 September 1890 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian fashion designer from an Italian nobility, aristocratic background. She created the Schiaparelli (fashion house), house of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, which she ...
. ''Yellow Mountains, Red Letters'' exhibited at Bonham's London 2010 featured her calligraphic works on photographs by Chinese art specialist Daniel Eskenazi. Daudy is a committed peace advocate. One of her most celebrated works, the "War Dress" was commissioned by the Southbank Centre, London for the Poetry International festival. It featured
Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen Military Cross, MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of Trench warfare, trenches and Chemi ...
's ''
Dulce et Decorum est "Dulce et Decorum Est" is a poem written by Wilfred Owen during World War I, and published posthumously in 1920. Its Latin title is from a verse written by the Roman poet Horace: '' Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori''. In English, this mea ...
'' inscribed in khaki letters down the train of a wedding dress. She has since collaborated with
Lemn Sissay Lemn Sissay FRSL (born 21 May 1967) is a British author and broadcaster. He was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, was chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trus ...
,
Glyndebourne Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...
, Yang Lian, House of Voltaire Grant White, the
Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...
, Poetry International, other artists and poets. Her work features in museums and major private collections throughout the world.


2016/2017

''Astronauts of Inner Space'' (2016) at 50 GOLBOURNE represented a collaboration with Italian designer Paola Petrobelli and Swiss sound artist Philippe Ciompi, evoking
William Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular culture and ...
' 'inner space', where the conscious and the unconscious combine to provoke memories and thoughts from the observer and to celebrate a full absorption into the living of everyday life. In 2016 she was designated by ONUART and commissioned to work on a used
UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...
refugee tent provided to her, through their introduction, by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The tent has since travelled and has been shown (as "Am I my brother's keeper?") in venues around continental Europe and the United Kingdom, including the
Flagey Building The Flagey Building (; ), also known as the Radio House (; ), is a building located in Ixelles, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium, housing the Flagey cultural centre. It is located on the south-western corner of the Place Eugène Flagey/Eug ...
in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, the Iglesia del Seminario and the
Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival (), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival was d ...
in
Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...
, the Chiesa Santa Rosalia in
Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
, the Migration Museum, the
School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...
, the
Saatchi Gallery The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art and an independent charity opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985. Exhibitions which drew upon the collection of Charles Saatchi, starting with US artists and minimalism, moving to the ...
, and
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and the
Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...
. The research in which Daudy engaged for the purpose of the refugee tent led to a series of new chapters in her work, inspired by the people she encountered - both refugees and those individuals connected to them. Daudy embarked upon a prolific campaign of written interventions in public and private places, across Europe, the UK and the Middle East, conveying positive, thought-provoking messages and ideas. She has written across more than 250 places, from tree stumps to prestigious museums, rubbish bins, fire hydrants, world-famous restaurants, bus shelters,
greasy spoon A greasy spoon is a small, cheap restaurant typically specializing in Short order cooking, short order fare. The term is also used in the UK–along with the informal term "caff" for café–to refer to a small privately-owned eatery that tradi ...
s, grocery shops, a refugee registration centre, youth centres, libraries, schools and street corners. With the support of
UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...
, Daudy has written messages of bravery and hope that come directly from the Syrian refugee camps in Jordan. Her writing is impermanent. She organised a public lecture series at Saint Paul's Cathedral as a part of "Am I my brother's keeper?" featuring Including Hannah Watson, Joe Boyd, Katherine Greig,
Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress. In her career spanning over six decades, she has garnered List of awards and nominations received by Vanessa Redgrave, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony A ...
, Alix Fazzina, and
Marina Warner Dame Marina Sarah Warner (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publication ...
. Daudy's drive towards confronting the refugee crisis was the topic of "Clear Blue Skies", a film created by
Odessa Rae Odessa Rae is an Academy Award and BAFTA Award winning film producer and actor, known for originating and producing the documentary '' Navalny'', which won the Best Documentary Feature at the 95th Academy Awards and Best Documentary at the 76th ...
and supported by the
UNCHR The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the United Nations System, overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a ...
, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
,
Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
,
Grand Central Station Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
, and Ground Zero. In 2016/2017 her show, ''This is Water'', an open-air display at
Yorkshire Sculpture Park The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is an art gallery, with both open-air and indoor exhibition spaces, in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It shows work by British and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barb ...
, referred to an essay by
David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American writer and professor who published novels, short stories, and essays. He is best known for his 1996 novel ''Infinite Jest'', which ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine ...
which alludes to how easy it is to forget what is ‘hidden in plain sight all around us.


2018/2019

In 2018, Daudy was the recipient of various commissions for projects across mediums. ''
The Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...
'' commissioned Daudy to write a main editorial investigating the fight against injustice in wake of "Am I my brother's keeper?", entitled "Why Asking Questions Matters". The same year, the
Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...
commissioned the artist to create a large city-wide installation programme in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
called, "We Can Talk About It In The Car". In 2018/2019 Daudy embarked on “Everything is Connected”, a global art and science collaboration with
Konstantin Novoselov Sir Konstantin Sergeevich Novoselov ( rus, Константи́н Серге́евич Новосёлов, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ nəvɐˈsʲɵləf; born 1974) is a Russian–British physicist. His work on graphene ...
, the Nobel Prize laureate in Physics in 2010. From November 2019 Daudy was appointed by the
Saatchi Gallery The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art and an independent charity opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985. Exhibitions which drew upon the collection of Charles Saatchi, starting with US artists and minimalism, moving to the ...
in London as one of two artists-in-residence, with a brief to respond to its exhibition, “Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh”. Her show (“It wasn’t that at all”) explored issues of death, family, home, identity, absence and loss. For this exhibition she also created numerous upholstered furniture works inspired by the artist Gotthard Graubner. Daudy worked with the University of Oxford and The British Museum in order to execute the contemporary response within this exhibition. File:Psychological_Map_of_London_-_artwork_by_Kate_Daudy.jpg, Psychological Map of London, by Kate Daudy File:Sun_by_Kate_Daudy.jpg, ''Sun'' - by Kate Daudy


2021/2022

In 2021 Daudy and Novoslev continued their collaborative efforts with “Wonderchaos”, exhibited at the
Yorkshire Sculpture Park The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is an art gallery, with both open-air and indoor exhibition spaces, in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It shows work by British and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barb ...
from September through October. Daudy and Novoslev pursued an inquiry into how ‘chaos’ is experienced on an individual and collective level across disciplines. This also featured a film and sound piece called, "IF YOU WANT TO HEAR SOME MUSIC, OPEN THE WINDOW: HOMAGE TO JOHN CAGE", a collaboration between Daudy, cellist
Steven Isserlis Steven John Isserlis (born 19 December 1958) is a British cellist. An acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, educator, writer and broadcaster, he is widely regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation. He is also noted for his div ...
, and Joanna Bergin. The two received a commission by the
National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...
Arts Festival at the Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials titled "Light Years, Week Days", a site-specific chime installation inspired by the hypothesis of Roman philosopher
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
surrounding the natural elements and their ability to create music. In 2021, Daudy was invited to design a trunk for the 200th anniversary of Louis Vuttion, where she created Louis the Sheep, a sustainability sourced and manufactured toy chest containing 199 sheep. In combining text and drawings that consider the sublime of everyday in conjunction with her deep study of religious texts during the pandemic, Daudy created an online exhibition along with a published book titled, "I Knew You Would Come Back To Me" in April 2021. The same year Daudy was the subject of the long-form essay, "If I Am Scared, We Can’t Win" by Dr. Rebecca Daniels, where Daudy's work with refugees, experience with the pandemic and its larger sociopolitical impacts are considered in the context fo Daudy's art practice and personal life. Novoselov and Daudy continued their work together in 2021 with “The Evolution Project”, an
NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that is recorded on a blockchain and is used to certify ownership and authenticity. It cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the blockchai ...
project that connected the real and virtual worlds with a series of generative works that continued Daudy's signature “trees”. Crochet elements in the trees are reminiscent of traditional crochet made in refugee camps, a connection to Daudy's focus on the humanitarian refugee crisis in Syria. The visual DNA encoded within the trees allow for a virtual rebirth of digital trees, bridging virtual and natural cycles of regeneration. This project was part of the continued “Everything is Connected” series. “Mi blancor almidonado: Autorretrato con piedras, sudario y una semilla”, an exhibition that served as a tribute to poet Federico García Lorca was exhibited at CajaGranada Fundación in
Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
, Spain in 2022. Daudy's thirty-eight stone portraits created space for the viewer to confront the obstacles that are faced by humankind and the ability to move forward in times of strife. The National Geological History Museum exhibited Daudy's “Punctum (Future Nostalgia)” in 2022 in
Meteora The Meteora (; , ) is a rock formation in the regional unit of Trikala, in Thessaly, in northwestern Greece, hosting one of the most prominent complexes of Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox monastery, monasteries, viewed locally as se ...
, Greece, an assemblage of personally symbolic objects that ponder the nature of life, death, and piety, drawing parallels to historical understandings of death and devotion. Daudy returned to her ongoing collaboration with Sir
Konstantin Novoselov Sir Konstantin Sergeevich Novoselov ( rus, Константи́н Серге́евич Новосёлов, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ nəvɐˈsʲɵləf; born 1974) is a Russian–British physicist. His work on graphene ...
in 2022 with the celebrated performance piece, “Illustration of the Theory of Unification”. In this participatory performance, Einstein's Unification Theory was demonstrated through a flock of 400 Castilian sheep each painted with the words ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ flooded the Plaza del Azoguejo under the historic Roman aqueduct of
Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...
, coming together in randomized arrangements that reflected the ability for humans facing disparate views to come together peacefully. Daudy and Gautier Deblonde created a film called "ALTERNATIVE RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR: THE SHEEP OF MR. CHARLES PLATTS" illustrating the participatory performance for Hay Festival. Daudy and Novoselov were the subjects of various interviews and podcasts regarding the piece. The two were interviewed by Javier Gila, chair of the Aida: Ayuda, Intercambio y Desarrollo association, for the Hay Festival's podcast.
IE University IE University, known as IE Universidad or Universidad Instituto de Empresa (lit. University Institute of Business), is a private university with campuses in Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populou ...
also spoke to the artist and physicist in a video interview.


2023 – present

In 2023,
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
commissioned Daudy to create “The Honey Window” at the
Columbia Global Centers Columbia Global Centers are research outposts established by Columbia University in different locations around the world, as part of its initiative to further establish an international research university. The first of these centers opened in Mar ...
in Paris, a constantly evolving installation consisting of windows made of glass and elm wood filled with honey from
Morvan The Morvan (; historically Morvand from the Latin ''Murvinnum'' 590)Pierre-Henri Billy, ''Dictionnaire des noms de lieux de la France'', éditions Errance, 640 pages, 2011 , is a mountainous massif lying just to the west of the Côte d'Or esc ...
. In these circular windows concepts of time, healing, and community are considered through honey's ties to the Sun God Ra and the efforts of large bee communities within hives in producing honey during the flowering season. The honey within the golden window crystallizes and melts when manipulated by the natural forces of time and temperature.


References


External links

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Kate Daudy Conceptual Artist, Sculptor

Kate Daudy's "psychological landscape"''This is Water,'' Yorkshire Sculpture Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daudy, Kate 1970 births Living people British conceptual artists British women conceptual artists British installation artists British contemporary artists History of fashion Artists from London Guerrilla artists 21st-century British women artists