Xenia: Crossroads in Portrait Painting
Installation view
Taking over both of their neighboring Chelsea gallery spaces, curators at Marianne Boesky Gallery have chosen to capture a crucial conversation dominating the atmosphere from Venice to Miami. Identity. Seventeen artists are participating in this show dedicated to those looking for a sense of place, ultimately finding it, in part, hanging on these white walls.
Xenia: Crossroads in Portrait Painting
Installation view
Those contributing include Amoako Boafo, Cristina Canale, Cindy Ji Hye Kim, Chloe Wise, Doron Langberg, Hannah von Bart, Laura Sanders, Maria Farrar, Ndidi Emefiele, Nona Garcia, Otis Quiacoe, Polina Barskaya, Pamela Phatismo Sunstrum, Robin F. Williams, Rodel Tapaya, Somaya Critchlow, and Salman Toor. Portraiture’s resurgence is no coincidence. Often during times of upheaval and unrest, one tends to be introspective; exploring themselves and their relationships to others. Each of the artists showcase a diversity of talent in expressing their soul-searching experience. From race to sex, identity to humanity, the show is ultimately linked through the common experience of being… well, human.
Xenia: Crossroads in Portrait Painting
Installation view
Marianne Boesky comments, “portraits have served as indicators of social values and personal circumstances,” and this show happens to be a modern take on a centuries-old tradition. As each work stares back, how can one not find reciprocity among the faces and in themes such as “acceptance, displacement” and “cultural references.” These are the factors that shape identity. These are the factors that make you feel a certain way when you look at a Chloe Wise work or an Amoako Boafo piece.
Xenia: Crossroads in Portrait Painting
Installation view
Perspectives from a global array of artists with different cultural experiences are drawn together here – united by this sense of humanity. The relevance of certain themes become glaringly clear as you walk around the gallery for yourself. Reflections of light within the portraiture on display put a huge emphasis on either loose brush strokes (installation view above) or fine line work (installation view below) and a thick impasto.
Xenia: Crossroads in Portrait Painting
Installation view
These reflections detailing the portraiture really grasp this idea of identity-seeking, where works look almost illuminated from within. In this volatile time of massive social shift, finding one’s sense of place among the unpredictable is assuaged by the common idea that we are all searching for this moment of identity.
Xenia: Crossroads in Portrait Painting
Installation view
For example, Doron Langberg (above left) centers on this idea of self. While from afar the brush strokes look frantic and unorganized, upon viewing the work close up, the faces are filled with exacting detail, making them beacons of the familiar among the disarray. On the right, Salman Toor explores acceptance and community with his breezy trio and paints a picture of relatable cultural references.
Xenia: Crossroads in Portrait Painting
Installation view
Portraiture evokes a sense of familiarity because of its inherent humanity. It’s the original selfie. Marianne Boesky Gallery put together a show in which one walks around and finds something of themselves, hopefully allowing visitors to explore their own identity.
Xenia: Crossroads in Portrait Painting will be on view at Marianne Boesky Gallery through February 15, 2020.