Cathie Pilkington RA (b. 1968)
Cathie Pilkington is an artist whose work engages passionately and critically with the canonical history of figurative sculpture. Crossing the borders of traditional, modern and contemporary idioms, her work combines intensively modelled and painted sculptures within immersive installations comprising a diverse array of props, materials and studio furniture. Her site-responsive installations are balanced ambivalently between chaos and precision and have been described as a kind of art historical fly-tipping.
She studied at Edinburgh College of Art (1986-91) and The Royal College of Art (1995-97). She was elected Royal Academician in 2014, held the position of Professor of Sculpture from 2015-2019 and in May 2020 was elected Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools
Recent projects include: The Value of the Paw, V&A Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green 2012; Life Room: Anatomy of a Doll, Royal Academy Schools Life Room 2017; Doll for Petra, Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft 2017; The Ancestors, (an installation co-curated with Alison Wilding RA from the RA historical sculpture collection), Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2019-20; HerWorking from Home intervention occupied Dorich House Musuem in 2018 and Pallant House Gallery 2019; The Covering, Karsten Schubert, London 2020.
Profile
Born: 1968 in Manchester, England, United Kingdom
Nationality: British
Elected RA: 29 May 2014
Keeper from: 2020
Professor of Sculpture: 2015 - 2019
Gender: Female
Visit Cathie Pilkington RA (b. 1968)'s website
Preferred media: Sculpture
Works by Cathie Pilkington in the RA Collection
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Works associated with Cathie Pilkington in the RA Collection
2 results
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Gallery
Cathie Pilkington RA, Mother.
Cathie Pilkington RA, Singerie.
Cathie Pilkington RA, Potter Pig.
Cathie Pilkington RA, Twinkle.
Cathie Pilkington RA, Alasdair.
Cathie Pilkington RA, Object.
Cathie Pilkington RA, Reclining Doll.
Cathie Pilkington RA, Tar baby.
Cathie Pilkington RA, Northern Landscape.
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Art Sales at the RA
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The Consolation of Nature
This print is part of a suite of four prints, along with Unicorn, Bright Birds, and Origami Goat. Striking and powerful are Pilkington’s darkened background and exaggerated shadow.
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Unicorn
Fantastical, unsettling, surreal, dramatic – these are the impressions Cathie Pilkington RA makes on the viewer with an etching that’s similar in tone to her painted bronze sculpture.
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Origami Goat
Pilkington graduated in silversmithing in 1991, the same year she was awarded the first John Watson Prize for Art. Her multiple award-winning work is exhibited internationally.
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Cathie Pilkington RA - Selected CV
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2020 The Covering, Karsten Schubert, London
2019-20 The Ancestors, (an installation co-curated with Alison Wilding RA from the RA historical sculpture collection), Royal Academy of Arts, London
2019-19 Working from Home, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
2018 Life Room: Working from Home, Dorich House Musuem, London
2017 Doll for Petra, Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft
2017 Life Room: Anatomy of a Doll, Royal Academy Schools Life Room, London
2015 Harmonium, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff
2014 thing – soul, Marlborough Fine Art, London
2012 The Value of the Paw, V&A Museum of Childhood, London
2010 Peaceable Kingdom, Marlborough Fine Art, London
2007 White Elelephant, Marlborough Fine Art, London
2005 Garden, Program, London
2004 I’m a Winner!, The Apartment, Athens
Curio, Space Station 65, London
2003 Homunculus, The Economist Plaza, London
2000 Short Stories, Galway Arts Centre, Ireland -
Selected Group Exhibitions
2006 - 2007 The Craft, Transition Gallery, London and The Metropole Gallery, Folkestone
2001 For the Love of Dog, Battersea Pumphouse Gallery, London
Auras and Avatars, The First Public School, Greece
1999 Dub Housing, Steirscher Herbst 99, Austria
Rover, Manchester City Art Gallery
1998 Viva Chihuahua! The Tannery, London
1997 Kettle Blue, Gallery Beaumont, Luxembourg and Atrium, Charing Cross, London -
Public Commissions
2012 British Art Medal Society
2005 Evelina Children’s Hospital, London
2000 @ Bristol, Harbourside, Bristol
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Related articles
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Our Collection
> 3 years ago
Artists Cathie Pilkington and Alison Wilding on ‘The Ancestors’
Fiona Maddocks meets the former teacher and pupil duo about their co-curated project on their Academy forebears.
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RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Degas, dolls and life drawing: Cathie Pilkington in the RA Schools
Cathie Pilkington RA is transforming the RA Schools’ life drawing room with an installation of uncanny figures inspired by Degas’ sculptures. Amy Sherlock finds out more about the project.
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> 6 years ago
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< 7 years ago
Sex, death and sculpture: Cathie Pilkington’s Top Shelf
The Royal Academician talks about the “Baccahanalian excess” of her sculptural installation Top Shelf, currently on display above the bar in the Academicians’ Room at the RA.
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< 8 years ago
Podcast: Women in today’s art world
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> 8 years ago
Parades and processions: The Lord Mayor’s Show
The Lord Mayor’s Show has been taking over the streets of London for nearly 800 years, and features a parade of over 6000 people. This year, the RA’s Learning Team were delighted to be part of that tradition.
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> 8 years ago
10 minutes with… Cathie Pilkington RA
Each month, we have a quick chat with one of our Academicians to find out what they’re up to and what the RA means to them.
