See full article by Claire Voon at Artsy
Quarles, 35, approaches figuration through a steadfast embrace of ambiguity—a style that has contributed to her fast ascendence as one of the most compelling painters working today. She has been included in major institutional shows from the New Museum’s “Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon” in 2017 to the Hammer Museum’s “Made in L.A.” biennial in 2018. She has also exhibited globally, with solo presentations in cities from London to Shanghai. Earlier this month, the largest presentation of her work to date was scheduled to open at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, bringing together about four dozen paintings and drawings made over the last three years.
Christina Quarles, It’s Hardly Sink Or Swim, 2019. © Christina Quarles. Courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Pilar Corrias, London.
Portrait of Christina Quarles by Daniel Dorsa. Courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Pilar Corrias, London.
It has been postponed indefinitely, however, with the museum now closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Social distancing with her wife and their two cats, Quarles has suddenly found herself with unexpected free time (which she is partially filling with taking walks and watching shows like Westworld and Tiger King). Despite coming off of many deadlines for the MCA Chicago show, as well as a solo exhibition at South London Gallery (originally set to open on April 29th), she has continued painting. During our conversation, she showed me two in-progress canvases: One features elongated figures awash in warm orange hues; the other has a popping palette of electric lavender and hot pink. Like most of Quarles’s work, they are massive, nearly overtaking two walls in her garage, which she has converted into a temporary studio.
Christina Quarles, Underneath It All, 2019. © Christina Quarles. Courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Pilar Corrias, London.
Christina Quarles, Laid Down Beside Yew, 2019. © Christina Quarles. Courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Pilar Corrias, London.
A“I’ve been slowly painting even though I’m technically supposed to be taking a break right now,” Quarles said. “It’s insane how difficult it is to concentrate, though. There’s this big unknown about deadlines, but when I can concentrate on painting, it’s very therapeutic.”The MCA Chicago show would have been a homecoming of sorts for her. Quarles was born in the city to lifelong Chicagoans; her family moved to California when she was three. While she considers Los Angeles her home, she still feels a strong connection to Chicago—particularly the South Side, where her late great-grandfather lived his entire life. Her extended family, most of whom have moved out of state, had planned to meet up in Chicago for the exhibition. “I’m excited about the show eventually opening because I’m really excited about having all my family come out—it will be fun to experience Chicago with them,” she said.
Christina Quarles, Peer Amid (Peered Amidst), 2019. © Christina Quarles. Courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Pilar Corrias, London. In Los Angeles, Quarles enrolled at the prestigious Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and attended college-level classes. The intensive program left her feeling well-trained in technique, but she didn’t know what she actually wanted to make. As an undergrad at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, she studied studio arts and philosophy and was drawn especially to critical race theory. “I was interested in pulling apart the language and looking to something that didn’t use the term ‘mixed race,’” Quarles, who has a Black father and white mother, said. “I felt like ‘mixed race’ was this vague position that glosses over all the different variables of having a multiply situated racial identity.”
Christina Quarles, Pour Over, 2019. © Christina Quarles. Courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Pilar Corrias, London.
Christina Quarles, An Absense the Size of Yew, 2019. © Christina Quarles. Courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Pilar Corrias, London.To Grace Deveney, a former MCA assistant curator who organized the museum’s exhibition, what makes Quarles’s paintings especially empowering is their ability “to speak about the universal experience of existing within a body.” She added, “I’ve also been totally fascinated by the way her work explores intimacy, togetherness, and the ways these forms of relating operate outside of heteronormative romantic constructs. This, in particular, seems unintendedly and eerily relevant as we all adjust to new ways of being together, apart.”When the MCA’s exhibition eventually opens, after several (or many) months of social distancing, viewers may appreciate these moments of unbridled intimacy more than ever. Deveney recalled her own initial impressions of Quarles’s paintings in 2017, at concurrent shows at the New Museum and the Studio Museum in Harlem.“I was struck by the way my connection with them transcended just a visual experience,” she said. “They made me aware of my body in space and the range of affective capacities wrapped up in touch and physical contact.” Claire Voon
