Catya Plate, born in Barcelona, Spain, is a Brooklyn based multi-award winning filmmaker and artist, working in sculpture, painting, drawing, installation and artist books. Raised in Germany, she attended the Werkkunstschule, Köln, before coming to New York in 1987 through a Fulbright Scholarship for post-graduate Fine Arts studies at the School of Visual Arts. 

She has been exhibiting regularly and internationally since the mid-1980's. In 2018, recent exhibitions include a group show at Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh, NY, and in 2015 a solo show at the Indianapolis Art Center and group shows at The Drawing Center at the Lesley Heller Workspace Gallery in New York City. Her work can be found in many public and private collections worldwide, including the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Modern Art Library in New York City. Articles and reviews of Plate's films, exhibition and installation projects have appeared in Film Threat, The New York Times and The Independent, among many others. 

In 1996 she received an Artist in the Marketplace award from the Bronx Museum of the Arts and in 2008 her work was selected for permanent inclusion in the Art Base of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. 
In 2009, she created Clothespin Freak Productions to bring her “Clothespin Freaks” characters to life through stop-motion animation short films. In 2012, her first film "The Reading", was awarded Best Animated Film at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival.

“Hanging By A Thread”, her second short film, won 9 awards including Best Animated Film awards at the New Hampshire Film Festival, Seattle True Independent Film Festival, Nevada City Film Festival, a Spirit Award at the Brooklyn Film Festival, a  Platinum Remi Award at the 48th Annual WorldFest Houston and two Awards of Excellence at the prestigious IndieFEST Film and Best Shorts Competition. It screened at over 22 film festivals in the US and abroad, like the Academy Award-qualifying St. Louis International Film Festival. Catya has recently been added to the prestigious GREAT WOMEN ANIMATORS list and was a juror for animation and experimental film at the celebrated Brooklyn Film Festival.

She continues expanding and developing her futuristic “Clothespin Freaks” universe through varied media by adding new characters and exploring the ephemeral nature of existence which exposes, among other things, humanity's impact on the environment. Her most recent film, “Meeting MacGuffin: An Animated Ecological Thriller”, the sequel of “Hanging By A Thread” and second in a trilogy of stop-motion animated shorts was completed in February 2017.  Her script for “Meeting MacGuffin” made it into the Quarter Finals (Top 40 Shorts) at the celebrated Cinequest Screenwriting Competition in 2015.

"Meeting MacGuffin", the sequel of “Hanging By A Thread” and second in a trilogy of shorts was completed in February 2017 and is currently making its rounds in the international film festival circuit with over 50 festival screenings (so far), 14 awards and 3 nominations to its credit. Among those awards are the coveted Grand Prize for Best Animated Short at the Academy-Award qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival-Vortex in October 2017, Best Shorts Production Design Award at the Other Worlds Austin Festival in Texas and the Special Jury Price for Animation at the renowned 30th Annual Fano International Film Festival, Italy, in October 2018.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
 

2018 Torrance Art Museum, Meeting MacGuffin, Torrance, CA.

2014 Indianapolis Art Center, A NEW BRAVE NEW WORLD, Indianapolis, IN.

2010 Center For Book Arts, CLOTHESPIN TAROT, New York, NY.

2009 Y Gallery, TINY MESSENGERS, New York, NY.

2009 Jancar Gallery, STRING THEORY, Los Angeles, CA.

2003 Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum, EXTRA SENSORY PERCEPTION, San Bernardino, CA. 

2003 Galerie Elten & Elten, CLOSE UP, Zuerich, Switzerland.

2003 Art Resources Transfer, EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CLOTHESPINS, New York, NY.

2002 Art Resources Transfer, BIO-ENCASEMENT, New York, NY.

1999 LimeLight Gallery, NO NONSENSE, New York, NY.

1997 Artists Space, ARTISTS (web) SPACE, New York, NY.

1994 The Collective Gallery, ARTIST FOR A WEEK, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1994 Alternative Arts Gallery, ARS MORIENDI IN NUMBERS, London, England.

1985 Galerie Appendix, MALEREI, Wuppertal, Germany.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2018 Ann Street Gallery, SMALL MATTER, Newburgh, NY.

2016 Lesley Heller Workspace, SHAKY GROUND, New York, NY.

2015 The Drawing Center, OPEN SESSIONS GROUP 5, New York, NY.

2015 The Drawing Center, "Name It By Trying To Name It: Open Sessions 2014-15", New York, NY. Curated by Nova Benway and Lisa Sigal.

2014 Torrance Art Museum, PREP SCHOOL, Torrance, CA.

2013 Target Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, SMALL WORLDS, Alexandria, VA.

2011 Torrance Art Museum, VIDEO ROW: 3 FILMS, Torrance, CA. 

2011 Center for Book Arts, MULTIPLE, LIMITED, UNIQUE: SELECTIONS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF THE CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS, New York, NY (Traveling show)

2010 Gallery Korea, CONSCIOUS BEHIND UNCONSCIOUS, New York, NY.

2009 The Center for Book Arts, THREADS: INTERWEAVING TEXTU[R]AL MEANING,

New York, NY. Curated by Alexander Campos and Lois Morrison

2009 Stewart Center Art Gallery, Purdue University, URBAN LEGENDS AND RURAL MYTHS, West Lafayette, IN. 

2008 The Museum of Arts and Crafts, YOUR DOCUMENTS PLEASE, Itami, Japan. 

2008 eyewash, ARTWALKING: BEDFORD AVENUE, Brooklyn, NY.

2007 Hunterdon Museum of Art, INNER CHILD: GOOD AND EVIL IN THE GARDEN OF MEMORIES, Clinton, NJ.

2007 Islip Art Museum, FREE PLAY, East Islip, NY.

2007 Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria, DREAMS AND POSSIBILITIES, New York, NY. 

2007 Momenta Art/White Columns, MOMENTA BENEFIT, Brooklyn, NY.

2006 Art at Large Gallery, TINY FINE ART, New York, NY.

2006 80 Washington Square East Galleries, SMALL WORKS, New York, NY.

2005 Hunterdon Art Museum, CREATIVE ENERGY: THE ELEMENTS, Clinton, NJ. 

2004 Adam Baumgold Gallery, UNTOLD STORIES, New York, NY..

2003 NURTUREart Gallery, ID-ENTITY, Brooklyn, NY.

2003 Fe Gallery, LUST, Pittsburgh, PA.

2003 art@large gallery, NEO-EROTIC JURIED SHOW, New York, NY. Curated by Grady T. Turner.

2002 New Bedford Art Museum, VAULT SERIES VII: UNIQUE PRINTS, New Bedford, MA.

2002 Cherrydelosreyes Gallery, DERMATOME, Los Angeles, CA.

2001 Lance Fung Gallery, BUT FEAR ITSELF, New York, NY.

2001 Goethe Institut, ART IN A BOX, New York, NY.

2001 Wilmer Jennings Gallery, CONFERENCE, New York, NY.

1999 Kingsborough Community College Art Gallery of the City University of New York, HANGING INSTRUCTIONS, Brooklyn, NY. 

1999 Longwood Arts Gallery, HANGING INSTRUCTIONS, Bronx, NY. (traveling exhibit)

1999 Consulate of the Republic of Hungary, NURTUREart AT THE CONSULATE, New York, NY.

1998 Islip Art Museum, ABOUT FACE: INVESTIGATING THE SNAPSHOT, East Islip, NY.

1998 SFA Gallery, Stephen F. Austin State University, TEXAS NATIONAL 98, Nacogdoches, TX. 

1997 The Bronx Museum of the Arts, ARTIST IN THE MARKETPLACE-17th ANNUAL EXHIBITION, Bronx, NY.

1997 Real Art Ways, NO ENGLAND - NO AMSTERDAM, Hartford, CT.

1997 Kenkeleba Gallery, REFLECTING POOL, New York, NY.

1997 Barrett House Galleries, NEW DIRECTIONS '97, Poughkeepsie, NY. Juried by Jennifer Blessing, Associate Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

1997 Alicia Torres Fine Art, TRIBECA ARTISTS 1997, New York, NY.

1997 Longwood Arts Gallery, THE CONDITION OF PANDEMICS: TOWARDS THE MILLENIUM, Bronx, NY. Curated by Betti-Sue Hertz.

1995 Gardner Arts Centre, University of Sussex, THE WAY WE LIVE NOW, Brighton, England.

1995 CoolTan Arts, SEX, HEALTH AND EDUCATION, London, England.

1995 Lewisham Arthouse, THE ART SHOW, London, England.

1995 CoolTan Arts, SLUMP, London, England.

1993 The Collective Gallery, CD2, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1991 Right Bank Gallery, IMAGES OF POWER—MEMORIES, Brooklyn, NY.

1989 Kenkeleba Gallery, 7UP AND COMING”, New York, NY.

1987 Galeria Oliva Mara, CONFIGURACION, Madrid, Spain.

1987 Studio Galerie, GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG, Werkkunstschule Köln, Germany. Curated by Jörg Immendorff.