Escape
January 23 - March 14, 2020
VICTORI + MO is proud to present Escape, an exhibition of new works by Adrienne Elise Tarver. This show marks her third solo exhibition with the gallery, which opens January 23rd and will remain on view through March 14th with an opening reception on January 23rd from 6 – 8pm.
This series of new work highlights Tarver’s continued interest in the history of colonialism and how it has affected the complicated narratives of contemporary black women in the western landscape. Employing scenes heavy with lush foliage and combining them with seductive domesticity, Tarver explores the problematic past of our ancestors and the impact of authentic versus inauthentic experiences.
Through examining parallels between slave trade channels and current cruise ship routes as well as travel advertisements and runaway slave ads, Tarver investigates the meaning of the word ‘escape’ - the escape of slaves from their captors in relation to the escape of the wealthy on luxury holiday trips to the tropics. The duality of this word accentuates the drastically different realities that individual cultures experience while also addressing the convoluted acceptance of a simplified colonial narrative.
In the large scale painting, Three Graces, Tarver was inspired by found photographs of three women in a 19th-century human zoo, which were failed attempts at understanding various indigenous populations through highly curated public exhibitions of humans in their “natural” habitat. While standing in their artificial environment, the women are surrounded by pineapples, bananas, and sugarcane - a symbol of agricultural cash crops that are directly related to the political, social and economic upheaval in areas that have long been colonized by Western civilization.
Through this exhibition, Tarver questions the authenticity of the current environment which has dramatically changed over time to satisfy contemporary needs. Looking at the present through the lens of the past, Tarver recognizes how the complexities of world history has compounded into modern-day reality and affect how we address our future.
The New York Times: What to See Right Now in New York Art Galleries
Adrienne Elise Tarver’s disquieting paintings.
February 20, 2020
BY JILLIAN STEINHAUER
The first artwork you see upon entering Adrienne Elise Tarver’s third solo show at Victori + Mo is a painting of a woman’s lower body under water. Her white bathing suit and brown legs float amid ripples of navy, grayish blue, and aquamarine. The piece, “Head Above Water” (2018), suggests glamorous freedom — but by the time I encountered it again on my way out, I understood it differently.
The exhibition plays on two meanings of its title, “Escape”: a vacation getaway and breaking free of bondage. Ms. Tarver connects them via the tropics, a frequent subject of hers and a region where idyllic beaches can mask histories of colonialism. In a series of small collages, she frames historical images of enslaved people and plantation workers within advertisements for cruise lines. They are cutting.
The highlights, though, are Ms. Tarver’s paintings, which are capacious enough to evoke ideas of voyeurism and exoticization alongside beauty. “Three Graces” (2019) is a life-size depiction, based on found photographs, of three women who were kept in 19th-century human zoos. Posing amid lush foliage, they look forlorn yet dignified. I thought of them when I returned to “Head Above Water.” Now, instead of seeing a scene of luxury, I imagined one of the women swimming to freedom.
PAINTINGS
COLLAGES