Kate MccGwire (b. 1964) is an internationally renowned British sculptor. She is now living and working in London, UK. She graduated with a degree in Fine Art from University College for the Creative Arts in 2001 and completed a Master’s degree in Sculpture at Royal College of Art in 2004. Her practice probes the beauty inherent in duality, employing natural materials to explore the play of opposites at an aesthetic, intellectual and visceral level. Growing up on the Norfolk Broads her connection with nature and fascination with birds was nurtured from an early age, with avian subjects and materials a recurring theme in her artwork. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2004 her uncanny sculptures have been exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery (London), the Museum of Art and Design (New York), Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Paris) and at Glasstress, an official collateral event of the Venice Biennale.
Solo exhibitions include Menagerie: Kate MccGwire, Harewood House, Yorkshire, (2020); Gaïa, What are you Becoming?, Guerlain House, Champs-Élysées, Paris, France, (2019); Dichotomy: Kate MccGwire, The Harley Gallery, Welbeck, UK (2018); Dovecote: Kate MccGwire, Commission For The Aldeburgh Festival, Snape Maltings, Suffolk, UK (2018); Secrete: Kate MccGwire, Galerie Huit, Hong Kong (2016).
Group exhibitions include The Armory Show, Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, New York, USA (2020); Betes de Scene, Fondation Villa Datris, Avignon, Paris, France (2019); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London, UK (2019); Dream, Chiostro del Bramante, Rome, Italy (2019); RWA Sculpture Open, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK (2019); Wondrous Worlds, Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin (2019); 21st Century Women, Curated by Fru Tholstrup & Jane Neal, Unit London, UK (2018); This World and The Other, Mathieu Dubois and Kate MccGwire, La Gallerie Particuliere, Paris, France (2018); 250th Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (2018); Iconoclasts: Art Out of the Mainstream, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2017); Glasstress 2015 Gotika, An official collateral event of the 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2015).
Highlights and Collections
Kate was also a judge of the Jack Goldhill Award for Sculpture (2019), a Member of Selection Panel for Royal West of England Academy Sculpture Open (2019), a Judge of the Aesthetica Art Prize (2013) and she is an Inaugural member of the Perrier-Jouët Art Salon. MccGwire was also granted a number of awards which include Winner of The Royal Academy of Arts, Jack Goldhill Award for Sculpture (2013) and Winner of the 'Heart of Glass' Award (2008).