Karen Kilimnik (American, b.1955) is an installation artist associated with the Scatter generation, and best known for her collage-based work and installations of objects from popular culture. As part of the Scatter generation that emerged in the 1990s—which included artists such as Felix Gonzalez-Torres (American/Cuban, 1957-1996) and Mike Kelly (American, 1954–2012)—Kilimnik created a romantic world that drew on contemporary media, fairy tales, and gothic mysteries. A work representative of this early period is The Hellfire Club of The Avengers (1989), an installation that references the 1960s British television series. Appropriation is a key element of her practice. She re-photographs famous photographs, and photographs herself as movie stars in her Me As (1988) series of paintings and photographs. Her Master Hare (1997) series depicts variations on the style and subject of the eponymous painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds (British, 1723–1792). She has held solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in Ireland, the Kunsthalle in Zurich, and the White Cube Gallery in London. She lives and works in Philadelphia, PA.
