Kate Donoghue

Kate Donoghue is a figural and narrative-based painter from Michigan. In 2022, she received a BFA in Art & Design and Minor in Museum Studies from the University of Michigan. Her practice seeks to memorialize moments of conflict within shared, culturally-learned experiences in order to critique and observe their significance beyond normalized interpretations. Recent works have been exhibited at Stamps Undergraduate Juried Exhibitions, Fresh Looks Exhibitions, and the Detroit Foundation Hotel. Her undergraduate thesis project Boys’ Life, which includes the featured works, earned the Integrative Project Award, which recognizes individuals deemed to have exceptional thesis outcomes and processes.

My practice reveals moments of tension and conflict, both physical and emotional, that occur in bodily athletic interactions through figural acrylic paintings and illustrations. By adapting documentary sports imagery into intentionally cropped, monochromatic paintings, the work reconsiders the mundane and innate moments of intimacy that would otherwise be shrouded by the norms of spectator sports culture. These explorations question assumptions that sports are inherently strong and masculine by highlighting moments of vulnerability and contradiction. The collection of works invites a curious reexamination of touch and masculinity in sports.

http://katedonoghue.com

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