Katy Kianush

 

Iranian born artist Katy Kianush, has been living in the UK since 1976.

Katy started painting as a child, and her first illustrations for children's poetry books were published in Iran, when she was 10 years of age. As a teenager, she was highly commended by the Mayor of Ealing (London) for her paintings at the Arts, Crafts and Photographic exhibition (1979), opened by the Duchess of Kent.
Recent publications including Katy's illustrations are: the cover of the book of poems, "Closed Circuit" by Shadab Vajdi (Forest Books, published in the UK) and the painting "Firefly and the Moon" for Cylcle 5 (A Japanese Myth) of the book "As Long as the Moon Shall Rise" (Holy Cow! Press, published in the US).

She uses a variety of media, including pen and ink, pencil / conte, watercolours and acrylics. Her subject matter includes Persian, Japanese and Chinese miniatures, portraits and figure paintings of local and ethnic origins and landscapes.

Katy Kianush

Her portraits and figure paintings, highlight the feelings and emotions of her subjects and make the viewer speculate about their experiences and thoughts.

Katy's landscapes capture views from local and eastern countries and her love of animals is revealed in much of her work. She also designs personalised greeting cards for special occasions, such as weddings and paints portraits by commission.

Although Katy's subject matter is varied, there is a unifying factor in all her work, that being a great attention to detail. She has a particular love of Persian, Japanese, and Chinese paintings, which she executes with intricacy in pen and ink, watercolour and acrylics.

Katy is a member of the Executive Council of the National Acrylic Painters Association (NAPA). She successfully directed and co-ordinated NAPA's very first London exhibition at the Westminster Gallery in 1999 (29th July '99 - 7th August '99).

She received the Royal Sovereign (Rembrandt) Award at the NAPA Open Exhibition 1998 for the painting: An Afternoon Stroll, New England, and was awarded the Daler-Rowney International Award at the NAPA Open Exhibition 1999 for the painting: Autumn Kaleidoscope.

Katy's latest article is:

"The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood"
A Brief history; the Origins and Painting Style

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Links to a variety of articles on art and art related subjects can be found in the Art Articles section.

At the NAPA 2002 Exhibition (Mariners Gallery, St. Ives), she received the Artists and Illustrators Award for all three of her Japanese symbolism paintings, Blossom, Chrysanthemum, and Autumn Leaves.

In August 2005, Katy was awarded First Prize at the Wessex Artists Exhibition (Mottisfont Abbey), for the painting: Mermaid.

Katy is also a member of the Wessex Artists and the Guild of Wiltshire Artists. Her Persian and Japanese miniatures featured at two solo exhibitions at the BBC World Service in the 1980's. Her solo exhibitions at the Wyvern Theatre and Arts centre (Swindon) in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2003 incorporated a varied collection of her paintings. During the last nine years, she has also taken part in over sixty group exhibitions in London, Southampton, Bath, Salisbury, Romsey, Birmingham, Chester, Durham, St. Ives, Swindon, Marlborough, Devizes, Highworth and Wootton Bassett.

Many of Katy's paintings are in private collections, both in the UK and abroad.
She also enjoys writing poetry and articles on various art topics.

Katy is listed in the book "Who's Who in Art".

BBC Interview

"...I don't think I have ever seen an artist quite like this one, because she has such different styles and different subjects. I think the thing that runs through it is that she is a very precise illustrator, but apart from that there is something here for everyone...."

Julia Holbury
Head of Cultural Services, Swindon Borough Council

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Copyright © 2004 K. Kianush, Art Arena