Hauser & Wirth is presenting an exhibition of new works by Christina Quarles from September 8—October 29 at its New York Gallery. Titled “In 24 Days tha Sun’ll Set at 7pm” for the time frame in which the featured works were created, many of the paintings Quarles is sharing are the product of her recent residency at the gallery’s Somerset location. The artist’s singular style employs elements of the surreal, figurative, and abstract, resulting in compositions that are vibrant with color and textures and house amorphous forms left with just traces of the artist’s extensive study of figurative drawing. Bearing titles like Same Shit, Different Day and A Song For YOu, these curious figures exist in environments somewhat devoid of place and time, suggesting narratives on subject matter like our public and private selves and constructs of identity.
Quarles has said of her work, “The contradiction of my Black ancestry coupled with my fair skin results in my place always being my displace. Throughout my paintings, there are perspectival planes that both situate and fragment the bodies they bisect—location becomes dislocation. Fixed categories of identity can be used to marginalize but, paradoxically, can be used by the marginalized to gain visibility and political power. This paradox is the central focus of my practice.”
