“Because I Wanna Fly” (2021) by Whitfield Lovell
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions
EMOTIONAL AND EVOCATIVE, Whitfield Lovell‘s work draws on memory and metaphor. His source images are found photographs of anonymous African Americans dating from emancipation to the civil rights era. He explores the Black experience by connecting past lives with vintage objects rich with history and meaning.
New York-based Lovell’s latest exhibition at DC Moore Gallery is inspired by the symbolism of the colors red and black. Referencing the title of an 1830 novel by French author Stendahl, “Le Rouge et Le Noir (The Red and the Black)” presents new drawings, mixed-media works, and sculptural installations.
A series of powerful portraits called The Reds channels pride, passion, courage, strength, and love. A complementary series drawn with silver Conté crayon on black paper was developed in Rome while the artist listened to Schubert’s “Winterreise (Winter’s Journey),” a song cycle by the Austrian composer about a man who runs through a snowstorm fleeing grief and lost love. Nina Simone’s rendition of “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me)” further inspired Lovell’s latest body of work. CT
“Whitfield Lovell: Le Rouge et Le Noir (The Red and the Black)” is on view at DC Moore Gallery in New York, N.Y., from Oct. 16-Dec. 18, 2021
FIND MORE about the exhibition
Installation view of “Whitfield Lovell: Le Rouge et Le Noir,” DC Moore Gallery, New York, N.Y. (Oct. 16 – Dec. 18, 2021). | Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, “The Red V,” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found object, 45 3/4 x 34 x 3 5/8 inches). | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, “The Red III,” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found object, 45 3/4 x 34 x 5 1/4 inches). | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
Installation view of “Whitfield Lovell: Le Rouge et Le Noir,” DC Moore Gallery, New York, N.Y. (Oct. 16 – Dec. 18, 2021). | Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, “The Red XIII,” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found object, 45 3/4 x 34 x 9 3/8 inches). | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, “The Red VIII,” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found object, 45 3/4 x 34 x 3 5/8 inches). | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
Installation view of “Whitfield Lovell: Le Rouge et Le Noir,” DC Moore Gallery, New York, N.Y. (Oct. 16 – Dec. 18, 2021). | Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, “Spell no. 12 (Black Maybe),” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found object, 66 1/2 x 47 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches). | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, From “The Winterreise Series,” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found objects, 45 3/4 x 34 inches each, variable), 27 parts. | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
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Whitfield Lovell on The Winterreise Series: “In Rome, I felt I should be listening to Puccini and Verdi, but I found myself listening to Schubert. That was the mood I was in. I had recently had several deaths in my family, and so Schubert’s “Winterreise,” which means “winter’s journey,” was actually very close to my experience, because it’s a song cycle with twenty-four songs, and about a man taking a…journey through a snowstorm to run away from grief and loss of love. And so, this was completely where my head was, and it was winter and it was Rome, and so I did one drawing for each song, and then three more.”
Installation view of “Whitfield Lovell: Le Rouge et Le Noir,” DC Moore Gallery, New York, N.Y. (Oct. 16 – Dec. 18, 2021). Shown, At left, “Because I Wanna Fly,” 2021; At right, “The Winterreise Series,” (3) 2021. | Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, From “The Winterreise Series,” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found objects, 45 3/4 x 34 inches each, variable), 27 parts. | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, From “The Winterreise Series,” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found objects, 45 3/4 x 34 inches each, variable), 27 parts. | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
Installation view of “Whitfield Lovell: Le Rouge et Le Noir,” DC Moore Gallery, New York, N.Y. (Oct. 16 – Dec. 18, 2021). Shown, From “The Winterreise Series,” 2021, Partial view 13 of 27 parts. | Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, From “The Winterreise Series,” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found objects, 45 3/4 x 34 inches each, variable), 27 parts. | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, “The Red II,” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found object, 45 3/4 x 34 x 6 1/8 inches). | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, “The Red XIV,” 2021 (Conté on paper with attached found object, 45 3/4 x 34 x 3 5/8 inches). | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, “Early Morning Train,” 2021 (Conté on wood with found objects, 72 x 84 inches). | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
Installation view of “Whitfield Lovell: Le Rouge et Le Noir,” DC Moore Gallery, New York, N.Y. (Oct. 16 – Dec. 18, 2021). Shown, At center, “Because I Wanna Fly,” 2021. | Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
WHITFIELD LOVELL, Detail of “Cardinalis,” 2021 (rotating table with attached found objects, 36 x 79 inches). | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
Installation view of “Whitfield Lovell: Le Rouge et Le Noir,” DC Moore Gallery, New York, N.Y. (Oct. 16 – Dec. 18, 2021). Shown, From left, “Untitled (Cardinal),” 2020 (Conté on wood with attached found objects
71 1/2 x 42 x 7 inches); and “Cardinalis,” 2021. | Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
TOP IMAGE: WHITFIELD LOVELL, “Because I Wanna Fly,” 2021 (Conté on wood with attached found objects, 114 inches diameter). | © Whitfield Lovell, Courtesy the artist and DC Moore Gallery
BOOKSHELF
“Whitfield Lovell: Kin” accompanied a major exhibition presented at The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. (2016-17). “Whitfield Lovell: All Things in Time” includes contributions from Bartholomew F. Bland and Lowery Stokes Sims. Also consider, “The Art of Whitfield Lovell: Whispers from the Walls,” among other volumes exploring the artist’s work.
