ANTHONY PEYTON YOUNG
Say His Name: Jordan Davis 17, November 23, 2012, Jamee Johnson 22, December 14, 2019, Ryan Twyman 24, June 6, 2019, Botham Shem Jean 26, September 6, 2018, Tamon Robinson 27, April 18, 2012, 2021, bleach, oil stick and oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches
ANTHONY PEYTON YOUNG:
Eternal Presence
Opening January 7, 2022
Public reception: February 4, 5:30 – 8 pm
Chanel Surlock 23, June11, 2019
Brooklyn Linsey 32, June 25, 2019
Tracy Single July 30, 2019
Bee Love Slater 23, September 4, 2019
Freddie Gray 25, April 19, 2015
Courtney “Eshay” Key, 25, December, 25, 2020
Tyianna “Davarea” Alexander 28, January 6, 2021
Dominique Jackson 30, January 25, 2021
Diamond “Kyree” Sanders 23, March 3, 2021
Daunte Wright 20 April 11, 2021
Andrew Brown Jr., 42, April 21, 2021
Kurt Andras Reinhold, 42, Sept. 23, 2020
Elijah Jovan McClain 23, August 24, 2019
Makiyah Bryant 16, April 20, 2021
Tamir Rice 12, November 22, 2014
Trayvon Martin 17, February 26, 2012
Mike Brown 18, August 9, 2014
Christian Taylor 19, August 7, 2015
Rumain Brisbon 34, December 2, 2014
Breonna Taylor 26, March 13, 2020
Jordan Davis 17, November 23, 2012
Jamee Johnson 22, December 14, 2019
Ryan Twyman 24, June 6, 2019
Botham Shem Jean 26, September 6, 2018
Tamon Robinson 27, April 18, 2012
Claire Legato 21, May 14, 2019
Muhlaysia Booker 23, May 18, 2019
Chynal Lindsey 26, June 1, 2019
Steven Zevitas Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Eternal Presence, an exhibition of recent paintings by Anthony Peyton Young. The Exhibition will run from January 7 – February 25, 2022, with a public opening reception on Friday, February 4th, from 5:30 – 8 pm.
Eternal Presence is comprised of four paintings and four works on paper that all belong to Young’s recent series, “They Have Names.” In subject, material, and form, the artist explores methods of memorialization, the process of healing, Black intimacy, and the spaces we use to activate these forces against white supremacy. Young begins each work by creating several intimate portraits of victims who have been killed due to white supremacy and hate crimes. Once each rendering is complete, Young deconstructs and combines the visages to form new, collective, memorial portraits. Each work honors individual and collective losses within Black and brown communities. They allow the victims and their families the right to opacity—to not have the victims’ lives reduced to the moment of their horrific death. We see fragments of Tamir’s kind eyes, Chynal’s perfect purple lips, and Breonna’s determined smile.
Young builds each work with both reductive and additive processes. Beginning with asphalt paper and black canvas, the artist uses bleach and chalk to reference the destructive reality of erasure. While these whitewashing materials eat into the canvas, thick patches of oil paint build and repair, blossoming into a generative resilience. With these combined techniques, Young paints a holistic experience in which we can mourn and heal.
Through my work, I focus on giving back to my communities—to provide the same sense of support and solidarity that I have received from them. My work underscores the importance of not only caring for oneself and the communities that we are deeply a part of, but also creating communal spaces of healing that allow radical reimagination of a more just society. By discussing my own experiences as a Black queer man and the relentless oppression and racial violence against Black and brown people, I aim to spark conversations on the larger systems of oppressions that continues to affect us all.
--Anthony Peyton Young
