Airing Today—Ninth episode of Gagosian Premieres celebrates Nathaniel Mary Quinn Exhibition with Raphael Saadiq, Amanda Hunt, and Ekow Eshun

Gagosian Premieres Celebrates Nathaniel Mary Quinn's Exhibition
NOT FAR FROM HOME; STILL FAR AWAYOriginal Film Featuring Musical Performance by Raphael Saadiq;
Commentary from Ekow Eshun; and Quinn in Conversation with Amanda Hunt, Lucas Museum of Narrative ArtFinal Gagosian Premieres Episode of 2021
Airing Today at 2pm EST on YouTube and the Gagosian Website

NEW YORK, November 16, 2021—The ninth episode of Gagosian Premieres celebrates NOT FAR FROM HOME; STILL FAR AWAY—an exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by #nathanielmaryquinn presented at Gagosian New York this fall. A musical performance by Grammy Award–winning singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Raphael Saadiq; an intimate conversation between Quinn and Amanda Hunt, director of public programs and creative practice at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles; and commentary from writer and curator Ekow Eshun offer insight into the works on view. Airing today at 2pm EST, the episode can be watched on YouTube and the Gagosian website. The episode marks the final Gagosian Premieres installment of the year; since its launch, the online series has garnered more than 3.7 million views.Quinn commented: "My art practice and personal drive as an artist are influenced by many traditions of art, from painting and drawing to comedy, film, and music. As Raphael Saadiq—a musical genius—has played a pivotal role in my understanding of artistic possibility, it brought me great pleasure to discover that we shared similar creative approaches. We both have visceral responses to memories, experiences, and moments; we both navigate the intricacies of family, friendship, loss, and deliverance; and we both possess an enduring commitment to the expression of vulnerability, empathy, and fragility."In the episode, Saadiq performs his 2002 song "Blind Man" in the gallery at 980 Madison Avenue. Singing and playing the bass and a single kick drum, he is accompanied by his frequent collaborator, pianist Ernest Turner. Saadiq also joins Quinn on a walkthrough of the exhibition, during which he remarks on their shared use of intuitive creative decision-making to become "vessels through which energy flows."From his studio in Brooklyn, Quinn participates in a remote conversation with Hunt, in which they discuss his career, focusing on the manifestation of personal history in his imagery and technique as he "works through" key episodes from his past ("My tools," he remarks, "are vulnerability and empathy"). Eshun, in his commentary on Quinn's work, considers the painter's exploration of "Black interiority" and his ability to envision a selfhood informed by the struggles of American history. Eshun also discusses the pictures in relation to an art historical lineage that includes Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.

Further information in the press release to download