Kate Groobey – Angry, but calmer than before

RIBOT is pleased to present Angry, but calmer than before, the second solo exhibition in Italy by British multidisciplinary artist Kate Groobey (Leeds, 1979, lives and works between Yorkshire and the South of France).

The title Angry, but calmer than before is taken from a group of small-scale watercolours that form the heart of the exhibition. Groobey painted them in 2024, before, between, and after undergoing a series of life-saving surgical procedures. Each work embodies feelings of anger, fear, hope, and resolve, expressed in her distinctive humorous style. The artist compounds her experiences onto paper, inviting the viewer to reflect on their own emotions, attitudes, and coping mechanisms.

The watercolours are developed from small-scale ink drawings started in 2021, when the artist purchased a block notepad with the intention of using it to make shopping lists. However, its purpose gradually changed as the pages filled with small note-to-self reflections echoing daily conversations—a habit that gave rise to several recent bodies of work. Over time, these sketches evolved and became increasingly populated by three recurring characters: the artist herself, her wife, and a horse nicknamed The Female Stallion, a symbol of female strength and empowerment.

The gallery’s first floor is enlivened by a large watercolour cut-out, used as the prop in one of the artist’s films—a work that invokes the ghosts of modernist painting, from Matisse to Tom Wesselmann. These figures, who innovated the cut-out and for whom the nude was a linchpin, influence Groobey’s work, as she affirms her presence in a male dominated artistic tradition. Several works on view have been brought to life as video performances, incorporating specially made costumes, music, and movement. In the film Fearless, the artist is seen throwing ghosts into a wastepaper bin, symbolically confronting and discarding her fears. Another film explores the emotion of anger through gestures that embody the visceral raw force of this emotional state.

For the occasion, Groobey has created as a Special Project a linoleum print edition of the drawing Angry, but calmer than before, and to deepen her connection with the Italian audience half of the prints are in Italian.

Kate Groobey (Leeds, 1979, lives and works in Yorkshire and south of France) studied at Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford University (2000) and Royal College of Art, London (2010). Her works have been shown in solo and group shows at: Sim Smith, London, 2024-2023-2020; Confino, Turin, 2023; IKON, Birmingham, 2020-2018; White Conduit Projects, London, 2020; RIBOT gallery, Milan, 2019; Mizuma Gallery, Los Angeles, 2019; Mizuma Gallery, Tokyo, 2018; Ebensperger Galerie, Salzburg, 2018; GNYP Gallery, Berlin, 2018; Horton Gallery, New York, 2022-2017; Ever Gold Projects, San Francisco, 2016; Redling Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2016; Transitional Gallery, London, 2016; Code South Way, Marseille, 2016; König Galerie, Berlin, 2016; Villa Lena Foundation, London, 2016; Dynamite Projects, Redhill, 2016; Beers Contemporary, London, 2014; ASC Gallery, London, 2013; Saatchi Gallery, London, 2010. Prizes include: Developing your Creative Practice fund, Arts Council England, 2019; Daiwa Foundation Art Prize, London, 2018; Stanley Smith Scholarship, Royal College of Art, 2008.