“If I met my ancestors at the edge of the ocean, would I bring flowers?” What a natural notion to posit, a sentiment to be etched in stone and passed down through the ages. When Milwaukee-born, NYC-based painter Khari Turner considered this simple, rhetorical question during our interview, in what was personally and professionally a lightswitch moment while musing about his painting, a shared clarity arrived. It’s true, I’ve thought about this concept over and over again: If I met my ancestors at the edge of the ocean, would I bring flowers? How would that appear? What does a meeting of bodies of water even look like?
But that’s just one aspect of his journey. A botched financial aid mishap followed by a scholarship and unlikely gig as a cheerleader at Austin Peay State University, working as one of those incredible high-flying stunt slam dunkers with the Milwaukee Bucks, and then onward to NYC and Columbia, each experience hydro-powered into a flourishing art career, yet another unique passage Turner has traversed over the course of a young life. Over the past few years, he has explored the properties of water as means of transportation, navigation, and life force, as well as art material, creating some of the most powerful paintings we have seen. While the first encounter is literally and figuratively stunning, a deep dive discloses that Turner is immersed in a personal, universal quest, exploring family, names, identity and home. —Evan Pricco
Doug Gillen: What’s your idea of Milwaukee art?
This story is from the Summer 2021 edition of JUXTAPOZ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Summer 2021 edition of JUXTAPOZ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
George Condo - The Artificial Realist
In the comfort of his bedroom, New Hampshire-born artist George Condo contemplated his place and personal perspective on art criticism and history.
Ever Velasquez – The Chingona of Chinatown
Today, Velasquez manages the gallery that’s become ground zero for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ exhibitions and artist representation in Los Angeles. We sat down for a punk rock lunch at Toi in West Hollywood and chatted about her strong influence in the Los Angeles art scene.
Mike Lee - The Privilege of Innocence
“Go west, young man!” An iconic phrase that drove America’s westward expansion—a call to citizens and immigrants alike, to embrace Manifest Destiny and seek new lands, prosperity, and freedom.
Art and Science in Bloom
Laguna College of Art + Design Teams with UCI School of Medicine
Women Dressing Women
The Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute celebrates women designers
Shepard Fairey - The Iconic Icon
As I enter Shepard Fairey’s Los Angeles studio on a sunny October afternoon, a considerably large painting of Andy Warhol sits on an easel, eyes focused and looming directly over the shoulder of Fairey as he adds watercolor touches to a series of works on paper.
April Bey - A Trip To Atlantica
Drawing from her own experiences in Bahamian and American cultures, April Bey’s work as both an artist and educator critically explores themes of race, identity, supremacy, and colonialism.
A Guide for Quitting Your Job and Crossing Europe
Copenhagen, Paris, and Sweet Sweet Sarajevo
Sarah Lee - At Moonlight
When was the last time you sat in stillness? Turned off your phone? Closed your eyes and allowed your brain to neutralize and excavate an instinct deep inside, opening the senses to risk and exposure? Likely not recently.
Lola Gil - Through Her Looking Glass
It's not surprising that a very young Lola Gil spent unhurried hours among her grandmother's collection of small, humble figures and objects.