This first retrospective publication features an extensive look at the UK-based Canadian born artist’s audiovisual installation works of the last 15 years, and accompanies an international solo exhibition.

Richardson’s works play with the idea of the hyper-real, a notion that due to our increased use of new media can no longer be distinguished from the real or the constructed. In particular she is fascinated by the way in which we connect with landscape, and within her deeply layered practice, she draws on devices from Hollywood science-fiction and horror, landscape painting and wildlife cinematography.

The results are complex cinematic installations that present us with locations that appear real but have been subtly doctored with CGI, animation and sound to create an unsettling, otherworldly atmosphere. The lack of any physical human presence enhances the work; often making the scenarios feel like a post-apocalyptic future. Works by Kelly Richardson have been exhibited and screened at notably Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Sundance Film Festival.

The authors: Kelly Gordon is associate curator at the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC.  Holly E. Hughes is curator of the collection at Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo NY. Alistair Robinson is programme director at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, U.K.

This book has four different cover images.

Art Editions North / Southern Alberta Art Gallery