Karla Black

Born 1972 in Alexandria, UK

Lives and works in Glasgow, UK

Karla Black‘s abstract and immersive sculptures are created through her experimentation with unconventional materials. These monumental yet ephemeral and seemingly weightless chalked paper works continue Black’s investigation of materiality and texture, and the emotions they transmit.

Her interplay of delicate abstract forms, pastel colors and surprising materials demands a physical experience and encourages a new way of not only seeing but also perceiving. Material experiences is Black’s preferred way to understand the world and communicate within it. For her, materiality is closely tied to psychological states of being.  

In 2025, Karla Black will hold a solo exhibition at Kunstraum Dornbirn, opening on June 27th. The artist will also participate in a group exhibition titled Color Everywhere - Farbe Überall, on view at the Josef Albers Museum Quadrat Bottrop. 

Karla Black‘s numerous solo exhibitions include Bechtler Stiftung, Uster (2024); New Art Gallery Walsall (2023); Modern Art Gallery, London (2022); Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (2021); Des Moines Art Centre (2020); Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2019); Le Festival d’Automne, Paris (2017); Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle (2017); Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2016); Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2016); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague (2013); Dallas Museum of Art (2012); Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow (2012) among others. Her group shows include Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2020); Lenbachhaus, Munich (2017); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016); Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2014); Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2012); Carré d’Art-Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes (2011); Bundeskunsthalle Bonn (2010); Tate Britain, London (2009) and many more. Black represented Scotland at the 57th Venice Biennale (2017) and her work was shown at Manifesta 10 in St. Petersburg (2014).

Her work is in major public collections such as the Tate, London; Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; KiCo Collection, Munich and others.