Art Omi’s latest exhibit, Katherine Bernhardt’s ‘GOLD’, is a collection of seven large paintings of the enigmatic yet illustrious Pink Panther. The paintings are not dissimilar to Bernhardt’s early work, which focused on supermodels such as Gisele Bündchen and Kate Moss. Over the past decade, Katherine Bernhardt’s subjects have expanded to include pop cultural icons (e.g. Darth Vader, R2D2, Garfield, Smurfs, E.T., the Pink Panther, etc.), as well as more quotidian objects (cigarettes, toilet paper, MTA MetroCards, plantains, sharks, watermelons, tennis shoes, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Scotch Tape, ice cream, pizza, etc.).

Bernhardt began painting the Pink Panther after she arrived at the Pink Palace Hotel (also called the Royal Hawai’ian Hotel) located on a sandy beach in Waikiki, Oahu. The pinkness of this trip continued after she checked into the hotel that featured pink bathroom towels, pink sheets, pink eye masks for sleeping, pink carpeting, pink beach chairs, pink beach towels, pink stationery, pink sunsets, pink pancakes at breakfast, and the Pink Panther on TV screens. After Bernhardt repeatedly watched videos of the panther along with her son while lounging atop their huge pink bed and while strolling around the hotel grounds while her son Khalifa continued to watch Pink Panther videos from a cell phone, she decided that the panther could look great on large-scale canvas too.

DATE/TIME:
Opening Reception – Saturday, April 6, 2019: 2 – 4pm

‘GOLD’ will be on view March 16 – May 19, 2019

LOCATION:
Omi International Arts Center – Newmark Gallery
1405 County Route 22
Ghent, NY 12075

MORE:
ArtOmi.org.
FaceBook/Art-Omi
instagram.com/art_omi

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