Rico Gatson. Spectral Visions.

About

The artist’s second solo exhibition at the gallery will open on 8 December 2022 and remain on view through 28 January 2023 at 515 West 22nd Street. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue featuring an essay by Siddhartha Mitter.

An undeniable energy radiates from Rico Gatson’s new works. Both spiritual and socially constitutive at once, there is, as Gatson says, “a dialogue between things in space. There is a vibration.” Through polyrhythmic geometric patterns and intuitive color decisions, the paintings unlock worlds.

Gatson’s varied practice transcends the labels “abstract” or “figurative.” Paintings with triangles and circles are Council Paintings, says the artist, “it’s a group of forms, loosely figurative in my mind.” The concentric circle motif throughout his work recalls targets, tracking a history of violence and resistance. The mirroring elements allude to islands in space, or to keyholes. And the ensemble of Totems, what Gatson calls panel paintings, embrace the patterned social and ritual information communicated through textile traditions, such as kente.

Siddhartha Mitter writes, “The variety alone in these works – the patterns that contrast and segment and overlap, the complex bravura coloration – brim with the intuitive confidence of a brilliant and experienced improviser. Gatson’s latest paintings underscore how method – in art as in science – is a gateway rather than a result.”