Installation view of “Kevin Beasley: In an Effort to Keep,” Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York, N.Y. (May 13-July 28, 2023). | Photo by Jason Wyche
HOW DOES SOUND DOCUMENT our experiences and preserve memories? Kevin Beasley gathered five artists in a Brooklyn apartment outfitted with 36 microphones for two days, recording the collective experience across conversations, meals, rest, activities such as piano playing and chess, and the white noise of everyday interactions and the movements of their bodies throughout the space. Taja Cheek, Paul Hamilton, Ralph Lemon, Okwui Okpokwasili, and Jeremy Toussaint participated in the apartment with curator Adrienne Edwards joining by phone.
“Kevin Beasley: In an Effort to Keep” at Casey Kaplan recreates the audio experience for visitors. A dedicated gallery approximating the footprint of the apartment is outfitted with speakers from which the sound performance emanates. Introducing the exhibition, the gallery says the work “traces the sensory composition of a memory.”
The installation is paired with a new series of Beasley’s resin works presented in the main galleries. Displayed on the walls, the works are composed of personal materials that have been integral to the artist’s practice, such as house dresses from a Harlem shop his grandmother and great grandmother patronized and raw cotton harvested from the rural Virginia property his family has owned for generations. Related floor sculptures are resin works cast from audio-equipment molds, including a diffuser and sound-absorbing foam.
One of two wood furniture pieces on display, inspired the name of the exhibition. A custom-made book shelf, “In an effort to keep something special is an effort to keep loving” (2007-2023), holds an eclectic mix of items—including cans of spray starch, a Tonka Truck, Aunt Jemima pancake mix boxes (surrounded with raw cotton and “preserved” in resin), a pair of Converse high tops, and an array of clothing—all rife with cultural significance, personal meaning, and shared histories. CT
“Kevin Beasley: In an Effort to Keep” is on view at Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York, N.Y., from May 13-July 28, 2023
KEVIN BEASLEY, Installation view of “In an effort to keep,” 2023 (38-channel recording, custom speakers, amplifiers, vintage speakers, audio playback rack, monitor, custom cabinetry, acoustic panels, carpet, lounge chairs, FM hearing system, speaker cables, custom lighting system, 234 x 374 inches / 594.36 x 949.96 cm), Duration: 16-hours; Performers: Taja Cheek, Paul Hamilton, Ralph Lemon, Okwui Okpokwasili, and Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste; Sound Engineer: Daniel Neumann. | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “Site XXIX,” 2023 (polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, housedresses, altered housedresses, confetti, t-shirts, altered t-shirts, guinea fowl feathers, fiberglass, 74.5 x 92.5 x 2 inches / 189.23 x 234.95 x 5.08 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
Installation view of “Kevin Beasley: In an Effort to Keep,” Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York, N.Y. (May 13-July 28, 2023). Shown, From left, “Wedge II,” 2023, and “Site XXXIII,” 2023. | Photo by Jason Wyche
Installation view of “Kevin Beasley: In an Effort to Keep,” Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York, N.Y. (May 13-July 28, 2023). | Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “HANGAR,” 2023 (wicker and Walnut Armoire by American of Martinsville, polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, hangers, baby clothes, altered Nike ACG boots, du-rags, Martin Margiela Retrofit High top sneakers, housedresses, t-shirts, dye sublimation t-shirt, 63.5 x 33.25 x 33.75 inches / 161.29 x 84.45 x 85.72 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
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Casey Kaplan: The shelves of an armoire manufactured by American of Martinsville, Virginia are filled with hangers Beasley has stored for years, previously used to hang hundreds of housedresses that comprise past works. Encased in a bed of resin and floating in space, the empty hangers are unoccupied and left idle like an erasure of what was.
KEVIN BEASLEY, Detail of “HANGAR,” 2023 (wicker and Walnut Armoire by American of Martinsville, polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, hangers, baby clothes, altered Nike ACG boots, du-rags, Martin Margiela Retrofit High top sneakers, housedresses, t-shirts, dye sublimation t-shirt, 63.5 x 33.25 x 33.75 inches / 161.29 x 84.45 x 85.72 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “Vista XIX,” 2022 (polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, confetti t-shirts, confetti housedresses, Sharpie transfer, 26 x 42 x 2 inches / 66.04 x 106.68 x 5.08 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “Blue Ridge (Fall),” 2022 (polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, confetti t-shirts, Sharpie transfer, 41.75 x 29.5 x 2 inches / 106.68 x74.93 x 5.08 cm. | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “Deep Cuts (40 acres/40 lives),” 2023 (Calacatta marble, 40 Damascus chef knives, polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, t-shirts, housedresses, confetti t shirts, confetti housedresses, altered t-shirts, altered housedresses, shoe strings, guineafowl feathers, bed linens, enamel paint, stainless steel, 48.5 x 89.25 x 31 inches / 123.19 x 226.7 x 154.84 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
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Casey Kaplan: In Deep Cuts (40 acres/40 lives) (2023), forty knives pierce the surface of a marble kitchen island lined with bed linens and garments soaked in resin. “40 Acres and a Mule,” the broken commitment to provide a form of reparations to newly freed slaves by offering plots of land no larger than 40 acres during Reconstruction, lingers like a scar from a persisting series of unhealing, deep cuts. A kitchen island serves to symbolize the destruction of a dream, while equally representing the nucleus of a domestic space and our connection to site.
KEVIN BEASLEY, Detail of “Deep Cuts (40 acres/40 lives),” 2023 (Calacatta marble, 40 Damascus chef knives, polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, t-shirts, housedresses, confetti t shirts, confetti housedresses, altered t-shirts, altered housedresses, shoe strings, guineafowl feathers, bed linens, enamel paint, stainless steel, 48.5 x 89.25 x 31 inches / 123.19 x 226.7 x 154.84 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “SCREEN,” 2023 (polyurethane resin, epoxy resin, raw Virginia cotton, Sharpie transfer, confetti t-shirts, fiberglass). | 55.25 x 110 x 2.5 inches / 140.34 x 279.4 x 12.9 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York,
Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “Meadow V,” 2023 (polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, altered housedresses, confetti t-shirts, altered t-shirts, guineafowl feathers, black swan feathers, fiberglass, 42 x 40 x 2 inches / 106.6 x 101.6 x 5.08 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “Vista XXXVII,” 2023 (polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, Sharpie transfer, 11 x 16 x 1.5 inches / 27.94 x 40.64 x 3.81 cm). © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “In an effort to keep something special is an effort to keep loving,” 2007-2023 (custom-built walnut and teak bookcase, polyurethane resin, housedresses, t-shirts, altered plunger, Niagara spray starch, “Rhombic DoDo” (2007) copper, Tonka Truck Turbo Diesel Crane 1988, broken teapot, Colonial Williamsburg black vase, Little Brown Jug, Detroit Tigers New Era baseball cap, Aunt Jemima Buttermilk pancake boxes, chest rub, Virginia pine tree root, UNDEFEATED x CONVERSE CONS Weapon “Patchwork” shoes, altered boot, altered dress shoe, sweatpants, sweatshirt, raw Virginia cotton, polyurethane foam, 75.25 x 60.75 x 18.25 inches / 191.1 x 154.3 x 46.35 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
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Casey Kaplan: Beasley presents a large-scale bookshelf that supports a group of objects such as a pair of Niagara Spray Starch cans that recall the artist’s morning routine in the late ‘90s—a familiar product that left his clothes crisp and affixed in place. A trio of “Aunt Jemima” pancake mix boxes, which was rebranded in 2021 to “remove racial stereotypes from the product” is engulfed by raw-dyed cotton and resin, further erasing the 133-year-old symbol of supposed “idealized domesticity” and the exploitation of Black women as caretakers for America. Subverting the urge to repress, the gesture of reviving or retelling our shared histories through the objects that linger—the objects we keep— becomes a radical move.
Installation view of “Kevin Beasley: In an Effort to Keep,” Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York, N.Y. (May 13-July 28, 2023). | Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “Vista XXXV,” 2023 (polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, Sharpie transfer, 11 x 16 x 1.5 inches / 27.94 x 40.64 x 3.81 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “Diffuser…Still it burns.,” 2023 (polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, housedresses, dye sublimation t-shirt, t-shirts, January 28th 2023 edition of The New York Times, hooded jacket, two sandbags). | 42.5 x 42.25 x 19 inches / 107.95 x 107.31 x 48.26 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
KEVIN BEASLEY, “Wedge II,” 2023 (polyurethane resin, raw Virginia cotton, housedressses, t-shirts, 14.5 x 18 x 18 inches / 36.83 x 45.72 x 45.72 cm). | © Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York, Photo by Jason Wyche
BOOKSHELF
Recently published, “Kevin Beasley: A View of a Landscape” is a 300-page monograph and double LP record (produced in collaboration with London-based label Hyperdub). The book includes contributions from Beasley, Andy Battaglia, Adrienne Edwards, Mark Godfrey, Thomas J. Lax, and Tiona Nekkia McClodden, among others. Jlin, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Kelsey Lu, Jason Moran, Moor Mother, and Okwui Okpokwasili are among those featured on the LP. Fred Moten and Ralph Lemon appear in both formats. The project is published by the Renaissance Society in Chicago, where Beasley was featured in the 2022 group exhibition “Fear of Property.” Also consider, “Kevin Beasley,” the artist’s first monograph. Published to accompany a 2018 exhibition at ICA Boston, the volume features a conversation between Beasley and artist Mark Bradford.
