CLAIRE MORGAN - I only dared to touch you once I knew that you were dead - press dossier

Aug 28, 2026

Uploaded by Putri

Press dossier for Claire Morgan’s solo exhibition running September 1 to October 28, 2023, presented by Galerie Karsten Greve. The show foregrounds a first figurative body of work where women take center stage alongside animals within an unfolding, fractured narrative. Across nearly thirty new paintings, installations, sculptures, drawings, and print works, the exhibition examines fear of the unknown, loss of control, and the tension between vulnerability and power, communion and colonization, while engaging themes of embodiment, mortality, and human-animal relationships. Background includes the artist’s biography, quoted reflections, featured works, and opening/extended viewing hours during DC Open Galleries 2023.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Artist’s quotes

Biography

Exhibition overview

Materials and techniques

Opening hours and DC Open Galleries

CLAIRE MORGAN I only dared to touch you once I knew that you were dead September 1 – October 28, 2023 press dossier Artist’s quotes “Being alive can be beautiful and horrific. Every living thing is in this state of constant transition. I am intrigued by those simultaneous senses of spiritual communion and unpalatable intrusion that come about through awareness of our connectedness, and of our vulnerability.” ……. “My practice has been focused on how we humans understand and interact with the rest of the natural world, and our unwillingness to acknowledge our absolute lack of autonomy or control. I look at humans as animals, and the complexity of our intellectual dislocation from the landscape that sustains us. We behave as individual entities with fixed identities, but the reality is less clear. The “me” that Iwas afew days ago no longer exists.” Claire Morgan at her studio 2023. © Claire Morgan Studio / Photo: John McKenzie Courtesy Galerie Karsten Greve Cologne, Paris, St. Moritz Biography Claire Morgan was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1980. She studied sculpture at Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK. In her work, the artist explores the elemental conditions of man within his habitat and reveals the impossibility of grasping the complexity of life and death: "Exploring the physicality of animals, death, and illusions of permanence in the work is my way of trying to come to terms with these things myself." Grace and beauty, but also senselessness and horror are present in her installations and drawings. Poetic and irritating at the same time, she thus expresses the ambivalence of life in her works. Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, such asthe 2021 retrospective "Joy in the Pain" at the Saarlandmuseum Moderne Galerie, Saarbrücken, as well as the Horniman Museum in London (2019), the Frist Art Museum in Nashville (2017), and Het Noordbrabants Museum in Den Bosch (2016) . Her works are part of important public and private collections, such as the Centre Pompidou and the Fondation Guerlain, Paris, the Stiftung Saarländischer Kulturbesitz, the Stiftung Kunst und Natur, Nantesbuch / Bad Homburg and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania. In 2019, she was awarded the 12th Prix de Dessin of the Fondation d'art contemporain Florence & Daniel Guerlain. Claire Morgan has been represented by Galerie Karsten Greve since 2010. She lives and works in Gateshead, UK. Strung Out, 2023, wax, human hair, feathers, mixed media, in vitrine 45 x 45 x 6 cm, vitrine: 187 x 87 x 68 cm CLAIRE MORGAN I only dared to touch you once I knew that you were dead September 1-October 28, 2023 Opening on Friday, September 1, 5-9 pm Extended hours during DC Open Galleries 2023: Friday, September 1, 10 am-9 pm Saturday, September 2, 10 am-7 pm Sunday, September 3, 1-5 pm "I'm looking for a different kind of intimacy in my work. "-Claire Morgan, 2023 Galerie Karsten Greve is pleased to present the fifth solo exhibition by artist Claire Morgan in Cologne as part of this year's DC Open Galleries. "I only dared to touch you once I knew that you were dead" presents the artist's first figurative body of work in which women are the central protagonists alongside animals, woven in an unfolding, fractured narrative, throughout the exhibition space. In nearly thirty new works ranging from painting, installation, sculpture, drawing and printmaking, the exhibition explores the fear of the unknown and loss of control. Expanding on Claire Morgan's artistic vocabulary which has, until now, captivated with intricate compositions of plant seeds, insects, taxidermy, and multicoloured waste plastic, this exhibition is populated by human presences: sculptures made of wax, textile, animal skin and hair are key to this new group of works by the Irish-born artist, as are ambitious largescale works in pastel, depicting relationships between humans and animals. “The bodies depicted are si

FAQs

What is the theme of Claire Morgan’s 2023 solo exhibition?

The exhibition presents women alongside animals in a fractured narrative, exploring fear of the unknown, loss of control, and the shifting balance between vulnerability and power.

Which materials and practices play a key role in the works?

The dossier highlights wax, textile, animal skin and hair, pastel and printmaking processes, as well as layering, repetition, and direct engagement through sewing, piercing, and sculpting.

When is the exhibition and what are the opening hours?

The exhibition runs from September 1 to October 28, 2023, with an opening on Friday, September 1 (5–9 pm). Extended hours during DC Open Galleries 2023 include Friday 10 am–9 pm, Saturday 10 am–7 pm, and Sunday 1–5 pm.

Aug 28, 2026

Uploaded by Putri