Liberty Realm [Paperback]

The fascinating phantasmal worlds in the work of the artist Cathy Ward.

Pulsing and surging with dark energies, Cathy Ward's mesmerising drawings capture a restlessly inquiring spirit through the meticulous rendering of organic forms. Their mystery, emotional depth, and enveloping sensuality recall an occluded art-historical canon of weird psychedelia, hermetic alchemical illustrations and outsider horror vacui. Liberty Realm presents a broad survey of works ranging from the acclaimed drawings exhibited recently in “Phantasmata” at The Good Luck Gallery (Los Angeles), “Talespinning” at the Drawing Center (New York), “Romantic detachment” at PS1 MOMA (New York), and Utopia at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, Wisconsin), to new explorations and insightful glimpses of her earlier output and formative practice. Substantial essays by Doug Harvey and Robert Wallis further untangle these fascinating phantasmal worlds.

Cathy Ward was born in Kent, England. In a career spanning more than thirty years, she has exhibited in such major venues as PS1/MoMA, the Drawing Center, the Walker Art Gallery, and the Whitechapel Gallery. She was appointed artist-in-residence for the “Madge Gill: Medium & Visionary” retrospective at Orleans House Gallery in London and her work has been featured in many underground and cultural spaces, including the Horse Hospital (London), and Maggs Counterculture (London). Her work is in the permanent collection of the College of Psychic Studies (London).

LA-based writer, artist, experimental musician. Education M.F.A. Magna Cum Laude, Painting. University of California, Los Angeles 1994 B.F.A. Honors, Painting, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada 1990 Selected Professional Experience Art Critic LA Weekly 1997 – 2011 Contributing Editor Modern PalcÂ