NARI WARD: ONGOIN’
Lehmann Maupin is pleased to present ongoin’, a solo exhibition of new works by Nari Ward in Seoul.
August 28 – October 19, 2024
Ward’s second exhibition in Seoul features copper panel works, sculpture, and wall-based installations that address aspects of healing and care that shape local communities— specifically in Harlem, the artist’s longtime neighborhood in New York. Additionally, ongoin’ explores the artist’s dedication to artistic interpretations of spiritual ceremonies and rituals, probing the fractured images and unseen forces often associated with such practices.
Ward is well known for his wall- and installation-based sculptural works created from materials frequently found and collected throughout Harlem. The artist combines these materials to re- contextualize their original meanings, creating assemblage works that confront complex social and political realities (often surrounding race, migration, democracy, and community) through literal and metaphorical juxtaposition. Materially specific but intentionally ambiguous in their signification, Ward’s works encourage the viewer to explore many possible interpretations.
Ward has long been drawn to copper as an artistic medium for both its energetic properties and its many cultural associations with medicinal healing. In ongoin’, the series Still Livin’ and Restin’ expand Ward’s interest in copper as an energetic material. Harnessing the process of oxidation as a tool for mark-making, Ward etches and marks the copper surfaces with everyday materials found around Harlem. Imprints of liquor bottles and prayer candles nod to makeshift sidewalk memorials constructed in public spaces, where these materials are repurposed to facilitate communal gathering, mourning, remembrance, and celebration.
In ongoin’, Ward approaches complex topics prevalent in the socio-political fabric of the United States while also addressing issues that resonate on a global level. Yet, rather than fixating only on the errors of the past, Ward creates a space for possibility through a spiritual connection to materials. By doing so, he breaks down the complexities of our reality and explores the various approaches to community and care.