Who doesn’t like Katherine Bernhardt? The junk pop painter from Missouri is back for a second solo show at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels this week. The cult of consumerism and the brands that define our age are at the heart of Bernhardt’s art, but in this new series of very large paintings, she also explores cartoon characters, and in particular, Garfield, who was born in 1978 via the hands of Jim Davis, making him a contemporary of Bernhardt. Her new paintings explode with all the characteristic colour she’s known for, and swim with a desultory mix of the symbols of our times: Nike ticks, Coca Cola bottles, Scotch tape, Doritos and matcha all make an appearance. A celebration or a critique? You be the judge.
