Kerry Irvine: Behind the Veil

High Line Nine presents a new solo show by New York artist Kerry Irvine. In Behind the Veil, Irvine reflects on the ways that the patriarchal and Catholic ideologies she grew up with have influenced her as a person and artist. Exploring this concept, her paintings celebrate various women of the Bible whose truth was dimmed and distorted by powerful men.

The eleven paintings on display are a result of Irvine’s endless inner volley between expressing her true self and wanting to feel hidden. Irvine noticed this affected both the ways she existed in the world and in her art-making practice. Canvases and paper with bold gestural strokes and vibrant colors play against moody, monochromatic, mixed media pieces. Her art takes advantage of an abstract vocabulary that pushes her paintings to dramatic lengths and begs the viewers to be part of the meaning-making.

Kerry Irvine is an abstract expressionist painter living and working in New York City. Highly expressive, her work is infused with light, color, motion, and a bit of mysticism. Irvine’s passion for art was nurtured by her late mother, also an abstract expressionist painter. Rooted in color and form, her work often calls on nature, landscape, and the human figure to inspire her. Currently, Irvine’s studio is located on the 80th floor of 3 World Trade Center, allowing the expansive views of the city to complement the expressive lines of her work. Irvine holds a BFA from C.W. Post Long Island University and spent four years at The Art Students League of New York. Her work is included in the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York, as well as in private collections in the United States and abroad.