Gregory Rick's latest exhibition, Running Wild at Johansson Projects, showcases the artist's unique approach to history painting. Through cacophonous compositions of bodies and objects, he explores different scenes in the history of empires, offering poetic analyses of American imperialism and the aesthetics of violence.
The exhibition features new works that deconstruct the imperial glorification of war and expose the white supremacist, capitalist exploitation of Africa by Western powers. Historical battles, such as those depicted in Light Brigade and El Alamein, provide a ground for confronting contemporary American imperialism and domestic fascism. Other works, like Protest, Pile of Po, and Op, Po, capture the hierarchical violence of state-sponsored class exploitation symbolized by the police. Figures appear as gestural outlines over blocks of color, while splatters, drips, and stains of black become like blood, obscuring the details in bodies and faces.
Gregory Rick is featured in the Spring 2023 Quarterly, on sale now. Read the interview here.
