A peculiarly calm brand of humor is found in Katie Herzog‘s work. With an aesthetic that seems to reference both craft and contemporary painting, wit is infused into the cheerfully colored paintings and mixed media pieces that the Los Angeles-based artist and assistant reference librarian creates. Her painting entitled Freedom (Richard Stallman Folk Dancing) (2008) renders the poker-faced father of the GNU Project prancing on a rainbow, in an apparent celebration of freedom of speech. In the explicitly titled, Dead Coyotes on a Fence (2008), Herzog depicts a neat row of four dead coyotes hung by their feet along a chain link fence, while a vast landscape of color blocks sprawls beyond. Both pieces were on view in her 2008 solo show, Librariana, at Circus Gallery in Los Angeles. In 2010 Herzog’s work will be on view in the solo exhibition, Ecstasy of Municipality at Whittier City Hall, Whittier, CA.

Katie Herzog lives and works in Los Angeles. She received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, her MFA from UC San Diego, and attended Library School at San Jose State University. She has been an artist in residence at Program Initiative for Art and Architecture Collaborations in Berlin, Germany; the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine; and the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada. Solo exhibitions include: Art As Experience at the Whittier Public Library, Whittier, CA; Librariana at Circus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Katie Herzog: New Paintings at Bucket Rider Gallery (now called Andrew Rafacz Gallery), Chicago, IL; Soft Philosophy at Pawn Shop Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; and group shows include: You Gave Me Brave at S1F Gallery, Los Angeles, CA and Literature As Exploration at The Other Gallery atThe Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada, among others.