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Curatorial
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Khari Turner: Lost at Sea
The New Gallery, Feb. 24 - March 28, 2025 |
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exhibition catalogue coming soon
exhibition essay: Lauren Jackson Harris
images: Ralph Acosta (@rwnacosta)
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"By embracing abstraction and figuration together, Turner’s work calls forth the unseen presence of ancestors, recognizing their indelible imprint. His mediums of choice are elemental and deeply tied to transformation and symbolism. In his hands, the materials are tools for storytelling, identity, and ancestral connection, especially within African spirituality and traditions. The dried traces of the ink and cracked lines of the glass resemble veins, roots, and lightning and speak to the interconnectedness of time, nature, and humanity. His use of water is inscribed on each canvas. We are not Lost at Sea: rather, Turner’s approach finds us in a profoundly poetic remembrance of African ancestry with spiritual, communal healing and identity." - Lauren Jackson Harris, exhibition essayist
"Water carries knowledge within us all, shaping my artistic practice. I collect water from oceans, lakes, and rivers tied to Black history and personal narratives, blending it with ink to pour onto my paintings. Through abstraction and realistic renderings of Black features, I explore ancestral connections to water—both spiritual and physical. My work navigates history and identity, envisioning water’s journey through time and the bodies it inhabits. As ink and ocean water dry, crackled lines emerge, resembling lightning, roots, and veins—traces of embedded memory. Transformation is central to my process, echoing water’s cycle from liquid to vapor. With each piece, I shape a world where water holds stories, guiding the journey like a vessel on an open sea." - Khari Turner Gallery Guide
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