In celebration of Kay Le Seelleur Ara’s first solo exhibition at CCA Galleries International they have invited artist, writer and lecturer Shirley MacWilliam to take a deep dive into the titles that accompany Kay’s paintings and drawings. Jersey-based octogenarian Kay Le Seelleur Ara is a prolific painter whose unique style is made all the more interesting by her inventive titling that often forms part of the picture. Shirley MacWilliam will explore the titles of Kay Le Seelleur Ara’s images taking us on a riotous journey where words and pictures jostle each other into submission, insurrection and hilarity. 

 

Shirley MacWilliam is an artist, writer and lecturer at Belfast School of Art. She writes about a number of contemporary women artists, including in 2023 an essay on Kay: The Interesting Paintings, Drawings, Life and Thoughts of Kay Le Seelleur Ara. This is one of a series of essays about women who have had their first major solo shows later in their lives as artists. She has also written about sound and voice in art and is interested in relationships between literature and art. Past artworks have included public site-specific projects, video installations, soundworks and performance. She is working on a study of the proliferation of porn culture within art practice and has recently published on connections between sculpture, technology and sex robots.

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Kay Le Seelleur Ara  Sept  20  -  Nov 1 at CCA Galleries International