Katya Tepper

September 27–December 15, 2018
Two very large sculptural works installed on adjacent walls: I, Infected, 2018 to the left and Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), 2018 to the right.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Two very large sculptural works installed on adjacent walls: Gaping Candle Tripod, 2018 to the left and Hysteric Sign (Distended J Bean), 2018 to the right.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Four very large sculptural works installed on the walls of a gallery with three white columns. A beige rectangle is painted on the wall behind Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), to the far right.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Four very large sculptural works installed on the walls of a gallery with three white columns. A beige rectangle is painted on the wall behind Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), to the far right.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), 2018, an abstract multimedia sculptural representation of a large, clunky sign in a capital letter “A” shape with two vertical elements resembling hand tools. Inside the “A” there is a depiction of a large tomato.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Detail view of Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes). A bright red tomato torn open to reveal a rib cage. The skin of the tomato is studded with holes.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Gaping Candle Tripod, 2018, a sculpture composed of a central rib cage-like structure on three legs with a candlestick emerging from its center. The work is made from a complex mosaic of materials.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Detail view of Gaping Candle Tripod. A piece of brick affixed to a similarly shaped piece of plywood with yellow epoxy. A long wick extends from a wax-filled hole in the brick.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

I, Infected, 2018. A large wall sculpture resembling the capital letter “I.” The work is made from a complex mosaic of materials. A large crack extends down from its top.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Detail view of the bottom section of I, Infected. Several toilet plungers and toilet plunger parts protrude outwards from a pool of industrial epoxy.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Hysteric Sign (Distended J Bean), 2018. An abstract multimedia wall sculpture resembling an oversized road sign in form and size. On the wall around it a large beige rectangle with three projections is painted, vaguely resembling a blocky letter M.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Detail view of Hysteric Sign (Distended J Bean), showing the layering and collaging of a wide range of fabrics and materials including pins and plastic spools.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018

Press Release

White Columns is pleased to present Katya Tepper’s first New York solo exhibition. This exhibition, entitled ‘Hysteric Signs,’ is composed of 4 large wall sculptures.

Tepper’s work is informed by the lived experience of chronic illness. The forms and processes in ‘Hysteric Signs’ reimagine the grotesque body as a site of joy and whimsy. They formally delight in the messiness of sickness, and revel in disturbing the border between the body and its environment.

Initially, the large, clunky wall sculptures resemble the oversized road signs that loom over the American landscape. Like the architectural signs of strip malls and billboards, Tepper’s sculptures claim and mark space as frontal designs, with bold colors and graphic shapes related to painting. Upon closer inspection, they reveal a dizzying and layered sculptural language full of holes. The materials interweave, exposing an infrastructure of entangled networks, processes, and objects. Toilet plungers penetrate industrial felt shapes, eggshells protrude from poured latex pools, plastic thread spools plug surfaces of caulk and cloth, while wax clogs the pores of old, dirty bricks. As if there is something violent and insistent about their being, the works in ‘Hysteric Signs’ refuse to differentiate between internal and external.

The works are a synecdoche that privilege organs, objects, letters, and roads, creating interrelated parts for the interrelated whole. Tepper scrambles language, symbols, and gestures, and the resulting abstracted forms are multiple in their associations. Deliberately heavy-handed but equally playful, the works in ‘Hysteric Signs’ celebrate the irregular, nonsensical, unruly, raw, and screaming.

Katya Tepper (b. 1987, South Florida) lives and works in Athens, GA. Tepper earned a BFA from the Cooper Union in 2010.  In 2017, Tepper received a Wynn Newhouse Award and MacDowell Fellowship, which partially supported the work in this exhibition.  Tepper also has a solo exhibition, currently on view at the Atlanta Contemporary.

For information or images contact: info@whitecolumns.org

Checklist

Related Press

Two very large sculptural works installed on adjacent walls: I, Infected, 2018 to the left and Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), 2018 to the right.
Two very large sculptural works installed on adjacent walls: Gaping Candle Tripod, 2018 to the left and Hysteric Sign (Distended J Bean), 2018 to the right.
Four very large sculptural works installed on the walls of a gallery with three white columns. A beige rectangle is painted on the wall behind Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), to the far right.
Four very large sculptural works installed on the walls of a gallery with three white columns. A beige rectangle is painted on the wall behind Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), to the far right.
Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), 2018, an abstract multimedia sculptural representation of a large, clunky sign in a capital letter “A” shape with two vertical elements resembling hand tools. Inside the “A” there is a depiction of a large tomato.
Detail view of Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes). A bright red tomato torn open to reveal a rib cage. The skin of the tomato is studded with holes.
Gaping Candle Tripod, 2018, a sculpture composed of a central rib cage-like structure on three legs with a candlestick emerging from its center. The work is made from a complex mosaic of materials.
Detail view of Gaping Candle Tripod. A piece of brick affixed to a similarly shaped piece of plywood with yellow epoxy. A long wick extends from a wax-filled hole in the brick.
I, Infected, 2018. A large wall sculpture resembling the capital letter “I.” The work is made from a complex mosaic of materials. A large crack extends down from its top.
Detail view of the bottom section of I, Infected. Several toilet plungers and toilet plunger parts protrude outwards from a pool of industrial epoxy.
Hysteric Sign (Distended J Bean), 2018. An abstract multimedia wall sculpture resembling an oversized road sign in form and size. On the wall around it a large beige rectangle with three projections is painted, vaguely resembling a blocky letter M.
Detail view of Hysteric Sign (Distended J Bean), showing the layering and collaging of a wide range of fabrics and materials including pins and plastic spools.

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Two very large sculptural works installed on adjacent walls: I, Infected, 2018 to the left and Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), 2018 to the right.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Two very large sculptural works installed on adjacent walls: Gaping Candle Tripod, 2018 to the left and Hysteric Sign (Distended J Bean), 2018 to the right.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Four very large sculptural works installed on the walls of a gallery with three white columns. A beige rectangle is painted on the wall behind Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), to the far right.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Four very large sculptural works installed on the walls of a gallery with three white columns. A beige rectangle is painted on the wall behind Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), to the far right.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes), 2018, an abstract multimedia sculptural representation of a large, clunky sign in a capital letter “A” shape with two vertical elements resembling hand tools. Inside the “A” there is a depiction of a large tomato.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Detail view of Hysteric Sign (Ribbed Tomato ‘n Grapes). A bright red tomato torn open to reveal a rib cage. The skin of the tomato is studded with holes.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Gaping Candle Tripod, 2018, a sculpture composed of a central rib cage-like structure on three legs with a candlestick emerging from its center. The work is made from a complex mosaic of materials.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Detail view of Gaping Candle Tripod. A piece of brick affixed to a similarly shaped piece of plywood with yellow epoxy. A long wick extends from a wax-filled hole in the brick.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (I, Infected, 2018. A large wall sculpture resembling the capital letter “I.” The work is made from a complex mosaic of materials. A large crack extends down from its top.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Detail view of the bottom section of I, Infected. Several toilet plungers and toilet plunger parts protrude outwards from a pool of industrial epoxy.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Hysteric Sign (Distended J Bean), 2018. An abstract multimedia wall sculpture resembling an oversized road sign in form and size. On the wall around it a large beige rectangle with three projections is painted, vaguely resembling a blocky letter M.)

Katya Tepper, installation view, 2018 (Detail view of Hysteric Sign (Distended J Bean), showing the layering and collaging of a wide range of fabrics and materials including pins and plastic spools.)