Katrina Palmer What's Already Going On? (2023)

Exhibition dates: Thursday 12 January – Sunday 12 March 2023

What’s Already Going On marked a shift in the artist’s practice, here Palmer departed from the word-based projects for which she is known. The exhibition consisted of an academic style corridor, inspired by those in the Philosophy Department at The University of Warwick.

Palmer lived and worked in a similar university environment, where she learned to throw knives at vibrantly painted clay targets. The action of knife throwing was documented in an 8-channel video with its sound amplified throughout the space. 

Alongside filming and editing footage of the knife throwing, Palmer practised drawing lines to make a series of works on paper that respond to the borders, margins, and channels of the lined A4 page. 

Creating absences is central to Palmer’s work and for this exhibition she decided to reduce the gallery’s footprint drastically. Instead, she focused on the edges of the space, prompting viewers to consider the experience of marginalisation. 

She asked us: Can you do what you want or need to do, as opposed to what you’re channelled towards or what’s expected of you?

The exhibition was accompanied by a new book Black Slit, co-published with Bookworks.

This exhibition was supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and was shortlisted for the Freelands Award 2022.