Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Leeds Beckett welcomes artist-in-residence, Catherine Bertola
Catherine’s work is underpinned by the desire to look beyond the surface of objects and buildings, to uncover forgotten and invisible histories of places and people, as a way of reframing and reconsidering the past. She is now based at the University’s School of Cultural Studies two days a week.
Catherine said: “I feel very privileged to be undertaking this residency at Leeds Beckett University. I am looking forward to spending time researching over the next few months, and excited about what new ideas and work will emerge.”
Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural History at Leeds Beckett, Dr Rachel Rich, made the successful bid for the Leverhume Trust Artist-in-Residence grant, the funding which has enabled Catherine’s appointment.
Rachel said: “It's exciting to have an artist in the School of Cultural Studies. As well as being an opportunity for Catherine to engage in research in an academic setting, it's also a chance for me and some of my colleagues to learn from Catherine.”
The residency will centre on Catherine and Rachel’s shared interest in cookbooks and advice manuals as research sources to explore the history of the domestic interior, in relation to time keeping and behaviour within these environments, with research leading to the development of new work and a series of events over the course of the project.
Catherine has exhibited her work nationally and internationally and has worked on commissions for organisations such as the V&A in London, National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth and several National Trust properties across the country. She has recently worked with Make architects, to create a series of decorative bronze spandrels for the façade of a new eight-storey office building on Hanover Square, London.
In addition, Catherine has work in several private and public collections internationally and is represented by Workplace Gallery, Gateshead/London and Galerie M+R Fricke, Berlin.