Khari Turner

The Sea’s Own Children

March 18 - April 25, 2021

Khari Turner The Sea's Own Children
March 18 - April 25, 2021

Khari Turner’s first solo exhibition with the gallery employs water as a universal connecting force in celebration of contemporary Black portraiture. Turner first incorporated ocean water into his practice during his time at the Iris Project Residency in the summer of 2020. The incorporation of water from oceans and riverways roots Turner’s work in the historical and spiritual journeys of Black bodies in America. It is his way to “conceptually talk about masculinity, Blackness, and strength, but also vulnerability and beauty.” Turner uses the collected water to abstract his painted Black figures until only the mouth, nose, and often hands retain their definition, foregrounding aspects of the Black figure that are often devalued by the Euro-centric art world and western civilization in general. 

In The Sea’s Own Children, Turner develops this practice further, extending his focus towards the representation of different aspects of Black Culture, Afropunk, and Afrofuturism that are not yet mainstream. He celebrates these distinct styles and attributes while also highlighting the ever-present tensions and issues surrounding visibility. Turner is a catalyst in a transitioning art world. His work honors and reflects the Black Artist Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, and offers an uplifting path forward. 

Khari Turner (b. 1991 Milwaukee, WI)is an American artist living and working in New York City, New York. A recent graduate from Austin Peay State University with his BFA, Turner is a MFA candidate at Columbia University’s School of the Arts. His work is divided between painting and sculpture, and continues to transform. “The voice of the work is working itself out...there is no certain outcome, but the journey is important."