Liminal Gallery is delighted to present Fantasy girls, a solo exhibition by Katie Tomlinson in collaboration with Brooke Benington. The exhibition explores representations of femininity, blending mythological and art historical imagery with fantasy and science fiction.

Fantasy girls are subversive, powerful, and unruly art monsters. The works examine the ‘politics of refusal’ by depicting disobedient creatures that reclaim the body and subvert traditional femininity. The paintings juxtapose fantastical marine creatures, which are both beautiful and grotesque, alongside classical sirens and nymphs, symbols of both liberation and oppression. As a result, the works critique the oppressive and exploitative paradigm in which feminine beauty is controlled.

Tomlinson’s paintings challenge passive voyeurism and explore how we interact with painting. Influenced by Brechtian theatre, Tomlinson’s paintings depict ‘the familiar as strange’, inviting viewers to critically engage with the narratives unfolding throughout her layered paintings.

In the same way that aquariums trap and display marine creatures for passive observation, historical paintings often confine women to the canvas, rendering them as passive objects for the viewer's gaze. This metaphor extends to societal voyeurism, where women's bodies are constantly scrutinised and consumed. By challenging this passive spectatorship and disrupting voyeuristic power dynamics, the paintings challenge our understanding of women in art and society.

Katie Tomlinson (b. 1996, Teesside) lives and works in Manchester. She holds a BA in Fine Art from Manchester School of Art and an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in London. She was awarded the Basil H. Alkazzi Scholarship Award.

Katie Tomlinson’s work has been featured in numerous international exhibitions. Most recently, Tomlinson presented the solo exhibitions They only want you when you’re seventeen, Seoul (2024); At least buy me dinner first, Brooke Benington, London (2022); and Fight the moon, Paradise Works, Manchester (2022). Among the group exhibitions she has participated in are 40 years of the future: painting, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester (2024); Viewing room, Galerie Supermarkt, Tokyo (2024); A mirror to vanity, Brooke Benington, London (2024); Let the absence speak, curated by Mattia Pizzani and Marta Orsola Sironi, Milan, Italy (2023); Buried in affection, Galerie Supermarkt, Tokyo (2022); Stories, Bankley Gallery, Manchester (2022); Fayre share fayre, The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (2022); A star is just a memory of a star, Brooke Benington, London, online (2022); Raw, Soho Revue, London (2022); Obstructions, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester (2021).

Brooke Benington was established in 2020 formed as a partnership between Directors Lily Brooke Day and George Mingozzi-Marsh after closing their respective galleries. The first two years of exhibitions were shaped by the global pandemic and the need to be flexible and innovative. Early exhibitions appeared online, and as collaboration in the UK and Europe, as well as continuing to run Contemporary Sculpture Fulmer (a commercial sculpture garden in Buckinghamshire 2017-2023).

In October 2022, Brooke Benington opened a new central London gallery space on Cleveland St in the historic area of Fitzrovia. The gallery works with UK and international artists running an interdisciplinary programme across media. Brooke Benington currently represents Viltė Fuller (London, UK), Yeni Mao (Mexico City, Mexico), Maria Szakats (Paris, France), Katie Tomlinson (Manchester, UK) and Ross Taylor (London, UK) with more artists to be announced in 2024.