Kenrick McFarlane

The Junkanoo Meets the Ocean

March 15 - May 11, 2024

Opening: Thursday, March 14, 6 - 8 pm

11 - 13 rue des Arquebusiers, 75003 Paris

Galerie Peter Kilchmann Paris is pleased to present The Junkanoo Meets the Ocean, a solo exhibition by American painter Kenrick McFarlane. The artist created new paintings in various sizes for the exhibition. It is the first time McFarlane’s work is shown in Paris, and the artist’s first solo show in Europe.

In his most recent works, Kenrick McFarlane (b. 1990 in Chicago) primarily focuses on black portraiture. Within these portrait paintings, the complex experience of appropriated cultural and personal identities and the ambiguity of sociocultural constraints are explored. The artist examines this experience and describes this act of conformity as a performance that is often carried out as a way of finding acceptance within a social group or situation.

Additionally, the experience of breaking away from the performance of societal norms and finding self-liberation is also expressed within this exhibition. Some of the paintings depict notable celebrities, musicians, and artists, serving as a symbol of performers, while other works express figures in a state of reflection and self-examination. The experience of questioning one’s performance or adopted societal behaviors and desires, and the thought of what lies beyond is an expression McFarlane aimed to capture within these portraits. The works in the exhibition also raise questions about controversial issues such as the perceived status of black and white culture, interracial relationships, and the legacy of the Caribbean slave culture. It examines whether, to members of the black community, the act of performance serves as a liberation from oppressive social constructs or whether it is ultimately tied to their respective expected clichés.

With art-historic references from German Expressionists to British painter Francis Bacon to portraits of controversial rap artists like Haitian-American Kodak Black, McFarlane combines various cultures and aesthetics from different moments in history to create a conversation on performance and liberation. The name Junkanoo is a reference to the Jamaican festival, originally practiced during the trans-Atlantic slave period where enslaved people only had one day of leisure. This festival incorporated masking and mimicking various personalities. The ocean, according to McFarlane, is seen as a symbol of freedom, a being with no ego or desire, one that follows its natural intuition.

This idea of trusting one’s intuition is a major part of McFarlane’s painting practice. Loose and luscious brushwork weave throughout the canvases within this exhibition. A combination of planned compositions and spontaneous paint handling is combined with conceptual ideas relating to the experience of performance, ultimately giving birth to beautiful yet enigmatic paintings.

The Junkanoo Meets the Ocean questions whether the performance and the appropriation of a different identity prevent a person from confronting the real self. Entertainers and celebrities are displayed as mere individuals and their potential motivations and ambiguity are laid open. The painting Instagram Girl, which appears to feature a person with deep anxiety, is a placeholder for Kenrick’s comments on the expected and perceived performances, and their psychological impact of them. Additionally, the painting Artist in the Studio alludes to the circumstance that the artist himself is part of an introspection- but certainly of one that has openly embraced the dilemmas of a black performer.

Kenrick McFarlane (b. 1990, Chicago) received his BFA from the School of Art Institute of Chicago and studied in the MFA program at the University of California, Los Angeles. Since 2010 his work has been featured in several group and solo exhibitions in the US, Europe, and South Africa. This includes exhibitions at Galerie Peter Kilchmann Zurich (2022), Samek Art Museum, Bucknell (2018), and Jeffrey Deitch Gallery (2021) solo exhibitions include M+B Gallery, Los Angeles (2021 and 2023,) and Gallery MOMO in Johannesburg (2020). The artist currently lives and works between Mexico City and Los Angeles.

For further information please contact: Audrey Turenne, audrey@peterkilchmann.com

or Marina Hinkens, marina@peterkilchmann.com.

La Galerie Peter Kilchmann Paris est heureuse de présenter The Junkanoo Meets the Ocean, une exposition personnelle du peintre américain Kenrick McFarlane réunissant un nouvel ensemble de peintures de différents formats. Il s’agit non seulement de la première exposition de l’artiste à Paris, mais aussi de sa première exposition personnelle en Europe.

Dans ses œuvres les plus récentes, Kenrick McFarlane (né en 1990 à Chicago) se concentre principalement sur les portraits de personnalités noires. Ces portraits explorent l'expérience complexe de l'appropriation des identités culturelles et personnelles ainsi que l'ambiguïté des contraintes socioculturelles. L'artiste examine cette expérience et décrit cet acte de conformité comme une performance, réalisée la plupart du temps dans le but de trouver l'acceptation au sein d'un groupe social ou d'une situation.

En outre, cette exposition exprime également l'expérience de rupture avec les normes sociétales et de libération de soi qui s’ensuit. Certaines peintures représentent des célébrités, des musiciens et des artistes notables, qui sont autant de symboles pour l’artiste, tandis que d'autres œuvres capturent des personnages dans un état de réflexion et d'examen d’eux-mêmes. Interroger ces performances, les comportements sociaux adoptés, les désirs, ainsi que leurs pensées sous-jacentes sont une expression que McFarlane cherche à saisir dans ses portraits. Les œuvres exposées soulèvent également des questions sur des sujets controversés tels que la perception du statut des cultures noire et blanche, les relations interraciales et l'héritage de la culture esclavagiste des Caraïbes. Elles explorent si, pour les membres de la communauté noire, de tels actes de performance servent la libération de constructions sociales oppressives ou se nourrissent de leurs clichés respectifs.

Puisant parmi des références à l'histoire de l'art, depuis les expressionnistes allemands, au peintre britannique Francis Bacon, en passant par des portraits d'artistes de rap controversés tels que l'Haïtien-Américain Kodak Black, McFarlane conjugue diverses cultures et esthétiques parmi plusieurs moments historiques afin de créer un espace de conversation sur la performance et la libération. Le nom Junkanoo est une référence au festival jamaïcain, adopté pendant la période de l'esclavage transatlantique, lors duquel les personnes asservies disposaient de leur seul et unique jour de loisir. Pendant ce festival, les participants se masquaient pour imiter différentes personnalités. L'océan, du point de vue de McFarlane, est considéré comme une incarnation de la liberté, en ce sens qu’il est une entité / un être sans ego ni désir, qui suit son intuition naturelle.

L'idée de faire confiance à son intuition est un élément capital dans la pratique picturale de McFarlane. Les toiles de cette exposition sont parcourues de coups de pinceau libres et généreux. La composition planifiée et une manipulation spontanée de la peinture associée à cette dimension conceptuelle de l'expérience de la performance, donnent finalement naissance à de superbes peintures qui n’en restent pas moins énigmatiques.

The Junkanoo Meets the Ocean propose de réfléchir l’idée selon laquelle la performance et l'appropriation d'une identité différente empêchent une personne de se confronter à son véritable moi. Les artistes et les célébrités sont révélés comme de simples individus et leurs motivations potentielles, comme leur ambiguïté sous-jacente sont dévoilés. L’œuvre Instagram Girl, qui semble saisir une personne à l’épreuve d'une profonde anxiété, est un espace réservé aux commentaires de Kenrick sur les performances attendues, perçues et leur impact psychologique. En outre, le tableau Artist in the Studio suggère que l'artiste lui-même intègre ces mécanismes d’introspection – à l’évidence d'une introspection qui embrasse ouvertement les dilemmes d'un artiste noir.

Kenrick McFarlane (né en 1990 à Chicago) est titulaire d'une licence aux Beaux-Arts de la School of Art Institute of Chicago et a suivi le programme de maîtrise aux Beaux-Arts de l'Université de Californie à Los Angeles. Depuis 2010, son travail a fait l'objet de plusieurs expositions collectives et individuelles aux États-Unis, en Europe et en Afrique du Sud. Il a notamment exposé à la Galerie Peter Kilchmann Zurich (2022), au Samek Art Museum, Bucknell (2018) et à la Jeffrey Deitch Gallery (2021). Ses expositions personnelles incluent la M+B Gallery, Los Angeles (2021 et 2023) et la Gallery MOMO à Johannesburg (2020). L'artiste vit et travaille actuellement entre Mexico et Los Angeles.

Pour plus d'informations, veuillez contacter Audrey Turenne, audrey@peterkilchmann.com ou Marina Hinken, marina@peterkilchmann.com.