Photo Taken In Milwaukee, United States
Ever since he was a young boy growing up in Milwaukee on the shores of Lake Michigan, Khari Turner (b. 1991) has been drawn to water. Turner has found a unique way of continuing that connection by incorporating water sourced from lakes, rivers and oceans with personal associations or connections to Black history into his contemporary figurative paintings.
To reflect the composition of the human body, he mixes paints composed of almost 60% water. He also uses his found water as a primer applied to canvases before painting.
Now through July 10, 2022, the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, WI presents Turners first solo museum show in his home state, Mirroring Reflection, showcasing his work in a gallery overlooking the Milwaukee River, a source the artist has drawn water from for use in paintings on view in the show.
Khari Turner, Flower of the Lake, 2022. Acrylic, oil, ink, charcoal, sand, African mahogany, water ... [+] from: Coast of Senegal, lower Manhattan docks, Lake Michigan, Milwaukee River, Pacific Ocean.
Water was always prevalent in terms of spaces to think and spaces for me to really start questioning what do I want to do with my life, how do I want to move forward; or if I was having a tough time I'd just sit next to water, Turner told Forbes.com.
The show features 26 of his water-infused works.
It was always so calming, he remembers about coming of age around water, adding with a chuckle, and then I used to skip rocks all time.
Turners paintings are highly symbolic, combining abstract and realistic renderings of Black figures to underscore the spiritual and physical relationship of his ancestors to water. Any discussion of Black life and history in America where it connects to water must trace its roots back to the Transatlantic slave trade. Turner approaches that reality from a different perspective.
I used to try making art about that trauma, but (I thought) it's not helpful to people who are already looking at this work and know about it, Turner said.
Instead of belaboring the point, reproducing the anguish being expressed by countless other artists, he found a different way of putting the water to use.
It helps me to be able to create work with this material because I can handle having all of that information, all of the atrocities of slavery and also all of the ideas around migration and travel, but I don't have to make imagery that displays that because the material does it already, you know where these materials came from, Turner explains.
The bodies of Black ancestors thrown overboard between Africa and the Americas decomposed in the water. They became one with it. A part of them returns through Turners paintings when he sources water from the ocean.
The material tells that terrible story sufficiently.
Then I am allowed to create images of happiness and joy, but never anything that has to deal with the trauma from that water, Turner said. The water does all the heavy lifting. That frees me up as an artist to be able to create images saying I know that there's this history, but I choose to live along with it in a way that I can still talk about joy.
Khari Turner, River Steps, 2022, Acrylic, oil, ink, charcoal, African mahogany, water from: Coast of ... [+] Senegal, lower Manhattan docks, Lake Michigan, Milwaukee River, Pacific Ocean.
Doing so reveals a more authentic self.
It felt like it was a lot more personal and it was a better message if I (could take that water) and apply it to (joy)we will still ride bikes, we're still going to the park, we still are having a good time, Turner said, referencing imagery from his paintings. (Trauma from water) is a part of history, and you should know this is a part of history, but I'm not going to stop being an artist. I'm going to be here doing what I want to do and I want to be able to create joy even though I know this history.
Mirroring Reflection follows Turners solo international debut at the 2022 Venice Biennale this past spring where a presentation of his paintings remains on view through November at Palazzo Bembo to coincide with the ongoing Super Bowl of contemporary art.
He spent the month of May in Stockholm, Sweden preparing a show of entirely new work for exhibition there this summer.
Coming off a residency during the pandemic in Venice, CA with a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University to his credit, the increasingly global artist who now lives in Brooklyn is undoubtedly on the verge of a major career breakthrough.
Despite that international success, Turner considers the MOWA show an early career highpoint.
The people who really influenced my work or who grew up seeing me got to see that show, he said. My high school art teacher came to that show and people who I used to work with, so it's really an amazing moment. Venice is great and hopefully one day I get my own pavilion to represent the United States, but it was definitely different being able to give back to (my) community, making artwork and showing it, (hoping) this might remind (visitors) of home because a lot of these images are based on me growing up (in Milwaukee)kids on bikes, going to the pool, sitting in class.
Museum of Wisconsin Art; West Bend, WI; HGA Architects and Engineers.
For additional insight into Turners evolution as a man and artist, he recommends a visit to Klode Park in Whitefish Bay, a community just north of downtown Milwaukee and less than an hours drive from MOWA.
It's the best park I've ever been to and is really where I got a lot of my motivation and where I grab water from when I use Lake Michigan water for work that I make, Turner said. That park is set up where you see Lake Michigan, but the land around it curves on each side so you don't see any of the city and it's mostly all trees and when you look out into it, it feels like you're looking at the ocean.
Looking into a Khari Turner painting.
Follow this link:
Water Inspires And Imbues Milwaukee Native Khari Turners Joyful Paintings - Forbes
- 'Southern/Modern': Rediscovering the Radical Art Below the Mason-Dixon Line - The New York Times - December 3rd, 2023 [December 3rd, 2023]
- Meet Ferrisburgh, a Rescued Kestrel Who Started Painting After a ... - Smithsonian Magazine - December 3rd, 2023 [December 3rd, 2023]
- New to the NW, he's painting 100 Chestnut Hill scenes - Chestnut Hill Local - December 3rd, 2023 [December 3rd, 2023]
- 10 Best Face Painting Supplies for 2023 - The Jerusalem Post - December 3rd, 2023 [December 3rd, 2023]
- Gond painting by Jangan Singh Shyam on display - Daily Pioneer - December 3rd, 2023 [December 3rd, 2023]
- Painting the town Christmas - Moorpark Acorn - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- Margate painting bike lanes green to prevent drivers from using them - Press of Atlantic City - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- Review: Glory of the World: Color Field Painting (1950s to 1983) - Observer - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- Conservator Restore This Renaissance Painting of a Medici - My Modern Met - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- Gauguin's shocking claim: Van Gogh painted the Sunflowers ... - Art Newspaper - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- Jeff Tech Art Club students continue window painting tradition in ... - The Courier-Express - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- From Loewe to Swarovski, hand-painted murals get a luxury upgrade - Jing Daily - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- Painting Perfection with Electric Paint Sprayers: A Comprehensive ... - Robotics and Automation News - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- Joe Venditti's legacy as the Eagles' 'Official Painting Coach' lives on - PhiladelphiaEagles.com - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- The Huntington Acquires Historic Portrait by Renowned Spanish ... - The South Pasadenan - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- An Oklahoma love story: How an early Oklahoman's collection of ... - tulsapeople.com - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- Pierre Bonnards paintings brim with vitality in Kimbell exhibition - The Dallas Morning News - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- Adel Library to Host Teen Painting Contest and Hometown Holiday ... - Raccoon Valley Radio - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- PETA to Auction off the Iconic Anti Bullfighting Painting "The ... - PR Web - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- Isle of Wight students 'paint the plow' - Smithfield Times - Smithfield Times - December 2nd, 2023 [December 2nd, 2023]
- A Piet Mondrian painting has been hanging upside-down for decades, art historian says - CNN - November 1st, 2022 [November 1st, 2022]
- Eastern Flank Battlefield to Host "Painting the Parks" Art Show - Williamson Source - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- This Botticelli Painting, Once Owned by the Late Paul Allen, Could Fetch $40 Million at Auction - Robb Report - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- So the internet thinks there's an iPhone in this 19th century painting - Creative Bloq - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Long-Unseen Painting of Jamaican Man Is Identified as Rare Richmond Barth Work - ARTnews - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Halloween Window Painting contest will bring downtown windows to life - The Messenger - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- TCU Painting U.S. Cities With Leading Alums in Honor of 150th Birthday - Fort Worth Magazine - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Oakland painter Mary Lovelace ONeal honored at On the Edge gala at de Young Museum - SF Chronicle Datebook - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Celebrate Las Vegas Pride this weekend with lights, drinks, and body painting - KLAS - 8 News Now - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- How to Paint (with Pictures) - wikiHow - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- 50 Most Famous Paintings of All Time in the Art History (Ranked) - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Mural painting brings community together - University of Wisconsin-Madison - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Bold: Painting in the outdoors is nice work when you get it - Sudbury.com - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Beauty in the banal: Exhibit celebrates painter who wrote the book on Midwest landscapes and much more - WGLT - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- British Rapper Aitch Working to Fix Manchester Mural of Joy Divisions Ian Curtis That Was Painted Over for His Album Advertisement - Variety - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Was That Painting Stolen by Nazis? New York Museums Are Now Required to Tell You - Smithsonian Magazine - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Southside Park gets fresh coat of paint for National Painting Week - ABC10.com KXTV - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Meet the Farmington man who sells his paintings next to his car downtown - Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- LA Covers 1 Million Square Feet Of Roads Will Special Paint To Cool The City Down - CarScoops - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Painting in the Light - Santa Barbara News-Press - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- This 1645 Painting Is A Spitting Image Of Connor McDavid -- And It's Almost Scary - Washington Hockey Now - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- MADE: Paint additive becomes salty success - Greater Wilmington Business Journal - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Creatively Centered: Paint Grand Traverse wraps week with gala, block party - Traverse City Record Eagle - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Court sides with MFAH in dispute over painting once sold to Hitlers art collector - Houston Public Media - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Interview With Dave Cole of Coastal Painting Associates - Kingwood - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- 5 Times the Mona Lisa Was Vandalized or Stolen - ARTnews - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- How Alma Thomas Arrived at Her Seminal Style of Vibrant Abstract Painting - Artsy - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Mahmoud Said's painting 'Dervishes' holds its position as most expensive in Middle East - Egypt Today - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- 'I Painted The QueenShe Was Surprising In So Many Ways' - Newsweek - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Painting of Saco's Jubilee Park covered bridge Selected for exhibition - Press Herald - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- What Did Will Paint in 'Stranger Things'? - We Got This Covered - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Claude Rutault, French Artist Who Rewrote the Rules of Painting, Dies at 80 - ARTnews - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Powerful expression: Artist captures emotion of everyday life in paintings - Daily Journal - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Secrets of the Book Designer: On Typography, Painting, and Finding That Single Visual Moment - Literary Hub - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Do You Know The Story Of Lincoln's Famous Painted Rock? - q1065.fm - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- 2022 Sabbatical for Pastor Jeff Wood launches mural painting project at the Thrift Store next to First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian - Community... - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Activist artist Chris Wilson promotes awareness of solitary confinement with paintings - Gothamist - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- This painting reflects the nearly forgotten fishing village on Jones Island - 88Nine Radio Milwaukee - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- After Waiting Years for Cities to Act, People Are Painting Their Own Crosswalks - TheStranger.com - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Ilya Repin's chilling painting of Ivan the Terriblevandalised in 2018 by a drunk man with a metal polegoes back on show at Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery... - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Here Are the Last Paintings Vincent Van Gogh Completed During His Lifetime - My Modern Met - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Gallery in the Woods to show oil paintings of local musician Bobby DiTrani - Brattleboro Reformer - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Wish upon a painting: Norman artist explores desire and fear in her work - Norman Transcript - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Oil Painting - The Ultimate Guide For Beginners - Draw ... - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- 60+ Easy Acrylic Painting Ideas For Beginners (Who Want To ... - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- What Does This 17th-Century Painting Smell Like? - Smithsonian Magazine - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- A Once-in-a-Lifetime Donatello Show Argues That Sculpture, Not Painting, Was the Ultimate Renaissance Art Form - artnet News - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- Utah reveals custom hand-painted helmets to honor fallen teammates Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe - CBS Sports - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- This Mozambique-Born Artist Is Changing What It Means to Be a Painter - The Cut - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- Phoenixville painting company is about more than just paint - Daily Local News - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- Painting the town purple: Stripe is back on Blake Street ahead of Rockies home opener - 9News.com KUSA - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- Two of Japans rising stars interview each other about family, creative expression, and the difference between painting and acting - ARTnews - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- Sothebys to Offer Rare Guston Ab-Ex Painting - Barron's - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- 5 fun wall painting ideas to refresh your home - NewsBytes - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- A Contested Landscape Painting in Berlin Is Deemed an Authentic Rembrandt - ARTnews - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- Lesson of the Day: A Poem (and a Painting) About the Suffering That Hides in Plain Sight - The New York Times - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- Daughter reunited with late father's painting from Chesterfield Inlet residential school - CBC.ca - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- 14-year-old art sensation Xeo Chu: I kind of keep it hidden from friends - The Guardian - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- The Chicago River Comes Alive in New Portrait Painted With Fishing Rod and Reel - WTTW News - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- Art group spreads autism awareness by painting - WDVM 25 - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]