Community Corner
Charles McGill The Heads: 1986
Charles McGill
The
Heads: 1986Saturday, October 5 — Sunday November 17, 2013
Reception at the Field Library: Saturday,
October 5 1- 4 pm
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The
Field Gallery, in conjunction with the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary
Art, is proud to present The Heads: 1986, a series of early
studies by the acclaimed artist Charles McGill which explore race and identity.
The Heads: 1986 series explores
pride and power, disconnect and discontent. Beneath the suit, the business man,
the athlete, the scholar, beyond assimilation -- the black man is seen, McGill
explains, as “a man who
is expected to always know his place, despite his innate ambition.” McGill continues, “These were my first real
paintings that exposed identity. They were breakthrough paintings—paintings
from memory.” In their unidentified, unblinking portraits, the heads notice,
they observe warily, but their eyes remain shaded from view. Some tell a
stereotypical story — minstrel, dancer, clown — roles more comfortable and
easily identified. In one portrait, “Misedoocayshun,” the figure knows what he
wants, and reaches, grasping. He knows to express it, but not how to spell it. In misspelling his desire, the need is
urgent, but limited and defined by his role.
In another, “Pigskin,” the head is a proud athlete, yet rendered grotesque.
The
1980s art scene was a time of uncensored, gritty, street roughness towards the
political and the private, the exposed and the hidden. McGill explains the urgency in his
process: “When these were made, canvases
were unprimed, raw, bare… they had immediacy. It didn’t feel like there was time. They had
to be put down as fast as possible.” Reflected in the paintings are quick judgments,
nightmare caricature, and uncomfortable truths:
black men seen as unnerving and insolent.
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Charles
McGill has been featured in the New York Times, Art in
America, Artnet and the Village Voice. In addition, his work has been
exhibited at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill,
NY; Lehman College Art Gallery, New York, NY;
the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT; and is currently represented by
the Pavel Zoubok gallery in New York, NY. He is an Adjunct Professor of Painting and
Drawing at Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, CT, and Westchester Community
College in Valhalla, NY. For more information, visit www.artnegro.com
The Field Library Gallery is located at 4 Nelson Avenue, Peekskill, New York. The Gallery is on the mezzanine level of the main library, is wheelchair accessible, and viewing hours are the same as the Field Library open hours. For further information please call Alicia Morgan, Curator, at (914) 862-3287 or email amorgan@wlsmail.org. Visit the library’s website at www.peekskill.org
