ROSS-SUTTON Gallery

“Breathing Water into Air serves both as Turner’s first solo exhibition in New York City and as a kind of resurgence. “It’s a birth and a rebirth at the same time,” says the Milwaukee-born painter, who recently committed to dedicating his life fully to his art practice. “I use a lot of water in my work, so it this focus on transitions just made sense.” The show features twelve paintings, all created in the depths of the pandemic, which seamlessly blend abstraction with figuration and, most notably, water with ink”

“FOR HIS FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION in New York, Khari Turner is presenting all new paintings that explore notions of birth and rebirth at Ross-Sutton Gallery. “Khari Turner: Breathing Water to Air” features 12 works, including several tondos. Turner’s images blend figuration and abstraction, connecting the body with nature, both visually and materially. Enveloped in foliage and immersed in bodies of water, his subjects channel spirituality, mysticism, and ritual”

“In this new body of work all created simultaneously this Spring in his Harlem studio, Turner is further exploring abstraction in his figurative abstract work. For the first time, he is incorporating water from the coast of Senegal with water from lower Manhattan docks, Lake Michigan and Milwaukee River water, water from the Pacific Ocean and oil, ink, watercolor, charcoal and sand on canvas or board”

“Swim Lesson, one of the show’s stand-out works, depicts a Black female figure floating in a pool, her eyeless face turned to the sun. The crystalline, sun-kissed pool effect is created with layers of paint chopped and scraped across the canvas. Her pool buoy, made of actual wood, is striking, almost disturbing when viewing the painting in-person—such a heavy object splintering the easy blues and the relaxed bobbing form”