In London, Huxley-Parlour presents Duets, the new solo exhibition by Catherine Repko, hosted at their Swallow Street location. The American artist showcases a series of large-scale paintings where the relationship between two figures becomes a space for emotional and spatial exploration, suspended between closeness and distance, fusion and divergence.
The title Duets evokes a synchrony, a melodic connection between two voices that can only exist if distinct. This duality is the beating heart of Repko’s work: her figures inhabit an ambiguous threshold, at the edge of presence and absence, tenderness and passivity. The reaching hands, the bodies leaning or drifting apart seem to dance in suspended time, captured in a moment of tension and motion.
In The greatest guide, two figures move in unison, with outstretched hands as if calling to an invisible entity, while in Constellations, a figure cloaked in deep blue turns their back to their partner in a gesture of gentle detachment that allows room for introspection. The animated poses, precise gestures, and blurred contours create an almost dreamlike atmosphere, where the boundary between subject and background dissolves in plays of light and transparency.
Repko experiments with paint by layering thick oil with lighter, more luminous brushstrokes, alternating matte fields with translucent passages. This layering not only deepens the visual impact but also suggests a sense of emotional and psychological fluidity, inviting the viewer to lose themselves in the multiple readings her paintings offer.
In the triptych Amid the plains, the only solitary figure stands out against a background of burnt yellows and warm earth tones, gazing beyond the canvas as if confronting a spectral, undefined presence. This moment of ambiguity disrupts the conventional narrative and suggests that the pairs in Duets might be multiple versions of the same subject, amplifying the theme of fragmented identity and shared experience.
Who is Catherine Repko?
Born in 1990 in the United States, Catherine Repko studied art in London and Brighton, earning an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2021. Her work, already shown in London, New York, Brussels, and Milan, has been recognized with awards such as the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant and the Triangle Network Fellowship from Arts Council England. She currently lives and works in London, continuing to push the boundaries between figure, space, and emotional narrative.
Duets is an exhibition about encounters, distances, and inner resonance: a delicate dance between bodies and silences, where the abstraction of space heightens the intimacy of the subjects, inviting us to reflect on the many forms of human connection.
