North Miami, FL - The Museum of Contemporary Art ( MOCA ) is pleased to present the first American survey of the work of Karen Kilimnik from September 7 – November 11, 2007. Kilimnik draws upon imagery from popular consumer culture, historical events and literature to create a new romanticism that is at once seductive and unnerving. Kilimnik, who was born in Philadelphia in 1957, is widely considered one of the most influential artists of her generation. This critically acclaimed survey incorporates her rich body of work from the 1980s to the present with over 90 paintings, drawings, photographs, assemblage, and installations. Kilimnik has created a new installation especially for the MOCA presentation

Karen Kilimnik is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania and curated by Ingrid Schaffner, ICA Senior Curator. Ms. Schaffner will lead a guided tour of the exhibition at 7 pm on September 7. The MOCA presentation of Karen Kilimnik is sponsored by UBS, Francie Bishop Good and David Horvitz, Sue Hancock and Funding Arts Network. A fully-illustrated hard bound scholarly catalogue will accompany the exhibition.

In Kilimnik’s work, the world of the ballet, childhood, romantic painting, pop music, icons of film and fashion, witchcraft, time-travel, and murder comprise an imagery that has been culled from the historic and recent past into an unsettling present. Her work rematerializes a quest for the romantic sublime in a world in which forces of nature, youth, and terror have taken hold.

In the 1990s, Karen Kilimnik emerged as part of the “scatter” generation of artists (Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mike Kelley, Cady Noland, and Jack Pierson, among others) who were so-called for their patently punk, deconstructed installation art. The Hellfire Club episode of The Avengers, 1989, is one of her “scatter art” installations in the exhibition. .

Kilimnik’s jewel-toned paintings convey exactly enough information to capture the essence of an image. The artist uses copying to take possession of or master an image, as is demonstrated by the Master Hare series which is based on a painting by the 18^th century English artist Sir Joshua Reynolds. In a series of equine paintings, a portrait of Napoleon by the early 19^th century French romantic painter Theodore Géricault provides inspiration for Kilimnik. In The splendid Lippazanner at the battle of Austerlitz, 2006, she depicts Géricault’s horse without a rider.

As a reaction to the minimalist style of displaying contemporary art in a pristine white room Kilimnik created The Red Room, 2007, a freestanding 19^th century-style salon, with small paintings installed on red brocaded walls for the exhibition. A red tufted circular divan centers the space. For MOCA’s presentation, Kilimnik has included a suite of seascapes based on The Tempest by the 16^th century Venetian painter Giorgione, a 16^th century Venetian and an installation that alludes to the Roman god of the seas, Neptune.

Viewed collectively, Kilimnik’s work expands from an essentially collage-based practice into a full-scale and theatrical production. The significance of Kilimnik’s artwork can be explored in relationship to post minimalism, feminist art, and the work of artists such as Joseph Cornell and Andy Warhol, both of whom are profoundly significant in understanding Kilimnik’s work.

The Museum of Contemporary Art is located at 770 NE 125^th Street, North Miami, FL 33161. For information, call 305.893.6211 or visit www.mocanomi.org

MOCA is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm and Sunday from noon to 5 pm, with additional evening hours on the last Friday of every month from 7 – 10 pm in conjunction with Jazz at MOCA concerts. General admission is $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and students with ID. Residents of North Miami, employees from the City of North Miami and children under 12 are free of charge.