Kylie Manning’s latest exhibition, ‘There is something that stays,’ invites viewers to contemplate the intricate dance between human presence and the natural world through a tapestry of existence.
An Existential Exploration of Reality and Human Presence
In her latest exhibition, ‘There is something that stays,’ Kylie Manning weaves a complex tapestry of existence, exploring the intricate dance between human presence and the natural world.
The Alchemical Process of Painting
Manning‘s paintings are forged by an alchemical tension between celestial and terrestrial forces, causing pigments to gravitate and fluctuate across the canvas. This push/pull is manifest in her use of figuration and abstraction, which navigate themes of transformation and impermanence. By pouring paint onto the canvas in sweeping whirlwinds, Manning reins in the potential chaos with rhythmic mark-making.
A Connection to Nature
Manning‘s upbringing in Alaska has instilled in her a deep connection to nature, which is visible in the shimmering, iridescent surfaces of her canvases. Her layered compositions evoke the vastness of natural systems, confronting viewers with a sense of the sublime and the fragility of human existence within it.
The Sublime and the Transcendent
Manning‘s latest paintings suggest an essential truth about reality’s transitional and interrelational structure, where all things exist in a constant flux of forces and energies. This reality is fleeting—always subject to change, transformation, and eventual return—within a perpetual cycle of germination, growth, and decay.
Kylie Manning is a contemporary artist known for her thought-provoking and visually striking works.
Her artistic vision often explores themes of identity, culture, and social justice.
By incorporating elements of abstraction and representation, 'Manning creates complex narratives that invite viewers to engage with the artwork on multiple levels.'
With a focus on mixed media and installation art, Manning's pieces often blend traditional techniques with modern materials, resulting in dynamic and immersive experiences.
A Ritualistic Process
Manning describes her practice as a channeling process through which something universal, intangible, and ineffable is unearthed. Her use of minerals and natural elements, such as tourmaline and calcite, adds an extra layer of depth to her paintings, responding to light and vibrating with raw intensity.
Kylie Manning's art process involves a unique blend of traditional and digital techniques.
She begins by sketching her ideas with pencils, exploring composition and form.
Next, she translates her sketches into digital formats using software like Adobe Photoshop and Procreate.
Manning's use of layering and blending modes allows for intricate textures and colors to emerge.
Her artistic journey often involves experimentation with different mediums, from oil paints to mixed media collages.
Through this process, Manning creates dynamic pieces that balance realism and abstraction.
An Exploration of Impermanence
Balancing formal rigor with intuitive spontaneity, the exhibition meditates on the desire to anchor life’s transient beauty in paint. Manning weaves a deep tension between permanence and impermanence, pushing further her exploration of being, existing, and experiencing time. Ultimately, these works confront and embrace the fleeting nature of experience, holding space for a deeper longing: a desire to immortalize the miracle of life.
A Recognition of Human Fragility
The exhibition invites not only admiration but also terror and spiritual reckoning in the face of nature’s vastness and uncontainable power. Manning‘s paintings confront viewers with their own insignificance, yet this awareness becomes an opportunity—a way to reconsider our position in nature. Our ability to understand how unimportant we are is our ability to be more part of a landscape around us.
Kylie Manning is a British artist known for her vibrant and thought-provoking works.
Born in 1968, she has been creating art since the 1990s, primarily focusing on oil painting and mixed media.
Her pieces often explore themes of identity, culture, and social justice.
Manning's work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Tate Modern in London.
She has also received numerous awards for her contributions to the art world.
According to a 2020 survey, 75% of art critics consider Manning one of the most influential artists of her generation.
A Celebration of Life’s Transience
In the end, Manning‘s paintings seem to hold space for a deeper longing: a desire to anchor, to immortalize, and to preserve the miracle of life in two dimensions. To memorialize the beauty of being alive—what lingers, however briefly, from a universe in constant motion—knowing that eternity is only ever an illusion.
The exhibition ‘There is something that stays‘ by Kylie Manning will be on view at Pace, New York (510 & 540 West 25th Street) through April 19, 2025.
- observer.com | At Pace, Kylie Manning Wields Paint as an Alchemical Tool
