August 26 - September 30, 2023
From Erin Cluley Gallery:
“It’s a miracle that Black joy exists. Being consistently reminded of our traumatic past by way of post-traumatic slave syndrome and American society itself, joy shouldn’t be a part of our vernacular. But, due to resilience it is.” — Madelyn Sneed-Grays
For as long as suffering and trauma has existed, its antithetical sedative, joy, has mounted a cheerful counteroffensive. In her exhibition of the same name, Denton-based painter Madelyn Sneed-Grays celebrates Black joy in a collection of new photorealist portraits. In conversation with Black creatives, entrepreneurs and online personalities, Sneed-Grays creates an exacting portrait of her subjects’ self-fashioning and manifest joy. Her work eschews universalizing narratives of the Black experience for nuggets of nuanced expression.
In Black Joy, Sneed-Grays’ work expands her creative use of hyperrealism: the exacting compositions preserve an infectious joy in her subjects for viewers. Following representational painters like Jenny Saville and Chuck Close, Sneed-Grays devises a portraiture not of distance, but unabridged closeness; her intimate focus on detail and texture activates a tactile response from the viewer. Varying in scale, the fashion, environment and pose of the painter’s subjects are brought into the fore by way of equal treatment and care. In the words of Sneed-Grays, “From the infectious smiles and laughter brought on by whatever jokes or experiences are being had, to the ability to truly express our thoughts, … we are our ancestors wildest dreams.”
Reception: August 26, 2023 | 9 pm – 12 am
150 Manufacturing Street, Suite 210
Dallas , 75212 Texas
214-538-1148
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