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Black women have not been represented as Madonnas, Venuses, or odalisques, Kaphar observes.
These are mothers mourning the loss of their children, he says.
Lets talk aboutFrom a Tropical Space.When I started this project, it was unfamiliar to me.
So I stuck it to the side of the studio and then just periodically came back to it.
And I just didnt want to go there.
I felt like Ive had that conversation before.
Because of that, I almost decided just not to go on this particular journey.
At a certain point, I was doing studio visits.
The bias that I was experiencing in myself reiterated through other eyes, as well.
We dont see very many pictures of black women in art history, period.
They are not our Madonnas.
Theyre not our Venuses.
They are not our odalisques.
This is a conversation about the Pieta.
These are mothers mourning the loss of their children.
So in that way, the relationship to art history is there.
Its just, the expression has changed.
This whole body of work has unfolded for me as a sort of surrealist, fictional Afro-futuristic narrative.
My familys from Michigan.
I said, What do you mean?
And we live in communities like this all over the country.
So the feeling, the mood, speaks to the trauma that these mothers are experiencing.
That kind of anxiety, that kind of fear in these paintings, culminates into this moment of absence.
Youve said your work is not about COVID-19.
And so in that way, this body of work reflects what has been there.
Its not for the sole purpose of teaching somebody a lesson.
Thats not the way that I make my work.
Its for the purpose of me exploring my experience.
Tell me about your life right now.In a lot of ways, it hasnt changed anything.
Im a very private person.
Im not really on social media.
Im a studio hermit, so I continue to be a studio hermit.
My family is fine.
My brother got really sick in Detroit, where he lives.
The hospitals there just didnt have enough space for people.
So he had a temperature of 105.
More or less, they just gave him Tylenol and sent them home.
There was just no place to put people.
And that speaks to that disparity that were talking about in communities like this.
I do a job where I can do it on my own and I can continue working.
The quiet of the day has been helpful.
Congrats on joining Gagosian.
Howd you end up deciding to join that gallery?I appreciate the congratulations about Gagosian.
This is sort of misunderstood, the dates of these things are misunderstood, so let me clarify.
I left Jack Shainman some time ago.
I was sort of representing myself in that way.
I was actually fine with it.
I hadnt been looking for another gallery but had been approached by several of the larger galleries.
He really took time with each of the artists in the program.
Its not a hobby.
This is fundamental to my practice.
NXTHVN is a part of your lifes work now.Thats right.
Not only did they understand that, but they valued that.
They stepped up and committed to supporting NXTHVN significantly as a part of their support for me.
Whats next for you?Its my dream to direct a film based on this body of work.
Ive been collaborating with a couple of friends of mine, and were releasing the short piece relatively soon.
Ive collaborated with my friend Nigerian-American writer Tochi Onyebuchi.
He and I have been collaborating on a piece of writing.
The gallery is actually releasing a kind of short episodic artistic film piece that will go along with this.
Well go along with this Spotlight and exhibition.
Im really excited about exploring these other mediums, music and film, to continue telling the story.
Hopefully by that point, we will have some of this cinematic piece to show at that time.
The colors in your pieces are so kaleidoscopic and luminous.
Will the film be like that?Thats exactly how I want the ultimate film to be.
The saturation in these paintings is less about a geographic place and more about an internal landscape.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
ET, for 48 hours.
