Kettle’s Yard is delighted to present ‘Megan Rooney: Echoes and Hours’, the first major solo exhibition in a UK public museum by Megan Rooney (b. 1985, South Africa).

Rooney’s sensuous and compelling paintings reinvigorate the power of abstraction. They embody a sense of boundless energy and life, whilst reflecting the artist’s deep knowledge of painting and the potential of each viewer’s encounter. Created in ‘family groups’, the size of the canvases she uses are determined by the reach of her outstretched arms. Vibrant colour and gesture combine in dense, apparently infinite layers. Each work captures the ebb and flow of Rooney’s process, from repetitive overpainting to the use of abrasives to remove pigment.

In the adjoining space, Rooney has created a temporary mural painted, which expands from floor to ceiling. Interested in the human desire to leave a mark, however transient, Rooney considers wall painting to be an extension of her performative practice, igniting an informal collaboration between her body, the architecture and the scissor lift she uses to reach high heights.