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James Little, Black Stars & White Paintings: Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St Fl. 1

Past exhibition
12 November 2022 - 4 March 2023
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Overview
Installation view, James Little, Black Stars & White Paintings, 2022. Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St. Fl. 1. Credit: Kyle Flubacker.
Installation view, James Little, Black Stars & White Paintings, 2022. Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St. Fl. 1. Credit: Kyle Flubacker.
“Emotion. It’s about getting as much feeling out of the work as you can. There’s not a lot of verbiage surrounding what I do. You’re not gonna get a syllabi on my Black identity, or anything like that. The art world is overloaded with rhetoric and jargon. Just stop and put it on the wall and let’s see what happens. If it performs, it performs. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. To have to explain it is what creates the deficit for me. Those things get in the way of having an experience with the art.”

 

 

Kavi Gupta presents Black Stars & White Paintings, the highly anticipated solo exhibition of new paintings by New York-based abstract artist James Little, a critically and publicly celebrated highlight of the 2022 Whitney Biennial, Quiet as It's Kept.

 

In her recent longform profile on Little in The New York Times, Hilarie M. Sheets described Little as “one of the breakout stars” of the Biennial, describing how his paintings “held court with a mysterious luminosity and presence.

 

The phenomenal impact Little’s work had on Biennial visitors marks just one more milestone in a tremendous year, which also includes the stunning, retrospective tribute James Little: Homecoming at The Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Little’s hometown of Memphis, TN, and the inclusion of Little’s work in the era-defining traveling exhibition The Dirty South.

 

Black Stars & White Paintings builds on the momentum of Little’s landmark year, marking a moment of long overdue, global recognition of his status as a contemporary master.

 

Little’s erudite Black Stars captivate the eye with their velvety luster, dramatic, acuminate forms, and restrained palette of only two shades of black. Their elegant simplicity belies the months of exacting effort Little invests building up their luxuriant surfaces with dozens of layers of handmade encaustic paints—a medium he painstakingly manufactures himself in his Brooklyn studio.

 

Reflective of Little’s lifelong study of color relationships and formal aesthetic theories, these guileless masterworks demand veneration as monuments to pure abstraction. Yet, as their carefully crafted name reveals, they simultaneously proclaim Little’s grasp of this historical moment, and his awareness of how identity politics has often skewed people’s perspective on his work.

 

James Little at the Alternative Museum, New York, ca. 1984.

 

James Little, El-Shabazz (B), 1985. Oil and wax on canvas, 24.8 x 24.8 in.

 

James Little, El-Shabazz (C), 1985. Oil and wax on canvas, 24.8 x 24.8 in.

 

“I call them Black Stars because they are black stars,” Little says. “The name Black Stars is also a reflection on Black exceptionalism. It’s a celebration of that. But that’s not what drove me to make the paintings. That whole racial aspect isn’t any more important to me than trying to paint some emblematic arrangements with two tones of black.”

 

Little’s White Paintings similarly demonstrate his nuanced sensibility towards both formal aesthetics and socio-political subtext. Topped with a glossy, vicious stratus of white oil paints, pierced with a geometric lattice of voids, their surfaces blaze with multitudes of swirling, prismatic rainbows.

 

“The White Paintings are more or less experiments in color,” Little says. “The thing you see first is the last layer of paint, which is white. But if you look beyond the surface, within the squares and circles there’s a whole universe of activity. The paintings keep changing, keep engaging, and are animated. The title is catchy, and there’s a lot behind that. It’s where we live and how we live. It’s America. So I want to try to bring as much of that in as I can without sacrificing the integrity of what I’m trying to do.”

 

When asked what he most hopes people take home with them after an encounter with his paintings, Little answers with his trademark combination of sincerity and wit:

 

“Emotion. It’s about getting as much feeling out of the work as you can. There’s not a lot of verbiage surrounding what I do. You’re not gonna get a syllabi on my Black identity, or anything like that. The art world is overloaded with rhetoric and jargon. Just stop and put it on the wall and let’s see what happens. If it performs, it performs. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. To have to explain it is what creates the deficit for me. Those things get in the way of having an experience with the art.”

 

From making his own mediums, to meticulously planning his intricate designs, to carefully applying dozens of layers to each painting over the course of as many weeks, emotion also defines every phase of the creation of Little’s Black Stars & White Paintings—emotion brought about by transcendent focus, exhaustive effort, and ecstatic appreciation for visions manifested as sublime masterworks of art.

 

 

 

 

 

James Little, Challenge Of The Will, 1979. Oil on linen, 54 x 67.5 in. Courtesy of MoMA.

 

In addition to its recent inclusion in the 2022 Whitney Biennial: Quiet As It’s Kept, Little’s work has been exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions around the world, including the definitive historic group exhibition Afro-American Abstraction (1980) at MoMA P.S.1, New York, NY, curated by April Kingsley, which also included such luminaries as Mel Edwards, Ed Clark, Sam Gilliam, David Hammons, Richard Hunt, Al Loving, Howardena Pindell, Martin Puryear, Jack Whitten, and William T. Williams; as well as James Little: Homecoming at The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN, with catalogue; and the landmark group exhibition The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, curated by Valerie Cassel Oliver and traveling to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, with catalogue; and acclaimed exhibitions at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC; and St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO; among many others.

 

Little’s paintings are represented in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; the Menil Collection, Houston, TX; The Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Maatschappij Arti Et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, Holland; Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, MO; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ; Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN; Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR; Rice University Moody Center For The Arts, Houston, TX; and Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, among many others.

 

 Photo by Thomas Barratt.

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Virtual Exhibition
Works
  • James Little Spangled Star, 2022 Oil and wax on linen 72 x 72 in 182.9 x 182.9 cm
    James Little
    Spangled Star, 2022
    Oil and wax on linen
    72 x 72 in
    182.9 x 182.9 cm
  • James Little Fat Star, 2022 Oil and wax on linen 72 x 72 in 182.9 x 182.9 cm
    James Little
    Fat Star, 2022
    Oil and wax on linen
    72 x 72 in
    182.9 x 182.9 cm
  • James Little Cute Star, 2022 Oil and wax on linen 72 x 72 x 1 1/2 in 182.9 x 182.9 x 3.8 cm
    James Little
    Cute Star, 2022
    Oil and wax on linen
    72 x 72 x 1 1/2 in
    182.9 x 182.9 x 3.8 cm
  • James Little Selfless Star, 2022 Oil and wax on linen 72 x 72 x 1 1/2in 182.9 x 182.9 x 3.8 cm
    James Little
    Selfless Star, 2022
    Oil and wax on linen
    72 x 72 x 1 1/2in
    182.9 x 182.9 x 3.8 cm
  • James Little Colored Neighbors, 2022 Oil on linen 64 x 74 in 162.6 x 188 cm
    James Little
    Colored Neighbors, 2022
    Oil on linen
    64 x 74 in
    162.6 x 188 cm
  • James Little Unlawful Assembly, 2022 Oil on linen 64 x 74 in 162.6 x 188 cm
    James Little
    Unlawful Assembly, 2022
    Oil on linen
    64 x 74 in
    162.6 x 188 cm
  • James Little Calculated Risk, 2022 Oil on linen 64 x 74 in 162.6 x 188 cm
    James Little
    Calculated Risk, 2022
    Oil on linen
    64 x 74 in
    162.6 x 188 cm
  • James Little Small Fires Everywhere....Everywhere, 2022 Oil on linen 64 x 74 in 162.6 x 188 cm
    James Little
    Small Fires Everywhere....Everywhere, 2022
    Oil on linen
    64 x 74 in
    162.6 x 188 cm
  • James Little Thespian Stories, 2022 Oil on linen 39 x 46 in framed 99.1 x 116.8 cm framed
    James Little
    Thespian Stories, 2022
    Oil on linen
    39 x 46 in framed
    99.1 x 116.8 cm framed
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Installation Views
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Videos
  • James Little with Seph Rodney | Black Stars & White Paintings

    James Little with Seph Rodney | Black Stars & White Paintings

    Read more
  • Congratulations James Little on being included in the 2022 Whitney Biennial

    Congratulations James Little on being included in the 2022 Whitney Biennial

    Read more
Press
  • Image courtesy of Kavi Gupta Gallery

    James Little: Contextualizing Black Exceptionalism: Black Stars & White Paintings at Kavi Gupta

    Vasia Rigou, New Art City, February 9, 2023
  • James Little, Spangled Stars, 2022.

    James Little: 8 Must-See Gallery Shows in December

    Paul Laster, Galerie, December 6, 2022
  • James Little, Fat Star, 2022. Oil and wax on linen, 72 x 72 in.

    James Little: Fear and Transcendence in Abstract Painting

    Osman Can Yerebakan, Artforum, November 30, 2022
  • James Little at Kavi Gupta.

    James Little: Art Top 5 | December 2022

    Brian Hieggelke, New City, November 29, 2022
  • Installation view, James Little, Black Stars & White Paintings, 2022. Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St.

    James Little’s Constructed Abstractions

    Dmitry Samarov, Frieze, November 29, 2022
  • James Little in his Williamsburg, Brooklyn, studio with one of his White Paintings. Photo by Thomas Barratt.

    See Inside James Little’s Studio

    Sarah Cascone, ArtNet News, November 27, 2022
  • James Little at his studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. At 70, he is widely heralded as one of the breakout stars of this year’s Whitney Biennial. Elias Williams for The New York Times

    James Little, Unapologetic Abstractionist Painter, Catches the Limelight

    Hilarie M. Sheets, New York Times, October 26, 2022
  • James Little, Checkered Past, 2017.

    James Little: Whitney Biennial Breakout at Kavi Gupta

    Ray Pride, New City, October 25, 2022
  • James Little, Exceptional Blacks, 2021. Oil and wax on linen, 72 x 72 in.

    James Little: A Glimpse into This Year's Whitney Biennial

    Marley Marius, Vogue, April 2, 2022
  • James Little - Kavi Gupta - Whitney Biennial

    James Little: At the 2022 Whitney Biennial, Compelling Works

    Ayanna Dozier, Artsy, March 31, 2022
  • James Little’s sixth-floor installation, with “Exceptional Blacks,” “Stars and Stripes” and “Big Shot,” from 2021. Credit: Charlie Rubin for The New York Times

    James Little: A Whitney Biennial of Shadow and Light

    Holland Cotter, New York Times, March 31, 2022
  • James Little, Borrowed Times, 2021. Image courtesy of the artist and Kavi Gupta, Chicago, IL. Photo by Ron Amstutz.

    James Little: A Sharp, Understated Whitney Biennial Looks to the Past to Process the Grief of the Present

    Alex Greenberger , ARTNews, March 30, 2022
  • Installation view of James Little with three of his paintings in the 2022 Whitney Biennial: from left, Stars and Stripes, Big Shot, and Exceptional Blacks. Image courtesy James Little, Kavi Gupta, Whitney Biennial.

    James Little: 12 Standouts at the 2022 Whitney Biennial, Where Poetic Reflections on Past Two Years Shine Brightly

    Maximilíano Durón, ARTNews, March 29, 2022
  • James Little, Whitney Biennial 2022

    James Little in the 2022 Whitney Biennial

    Kavi Gupta, Kavi Gupta Blog, January 25, 2022
  • Fatima Shaik and James Little in their Garment District apartment with, clockwise from top left, two untitled 1972 works by Alma Thomas; Untitled (1978) by Toshio Iwasa; Untitled (2001) also by Iwasa; and, perched over that frame, Money Lures, made of shredded money, by Richard Mock (1975).Credit: Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

    James Little: Color and Design Matter. So Does Optimism.

    Hilarie M. Sheets, New York Times, March 19, 2020
  • James Little at the Alternative Museum, New York, ca. 1984.

    James Little by LeRonn P. Brooks

    LeRonn P. Brooks, BOMB, April 19, 2017
Publications
  • <i>James Little: Chromatic Rhythm</i>

    James Little: Chromatic Rhythm

    The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, Tuscaloosa, AL 2021 Read more
  • James Little: Beyond Geometry

    James Little: Beyond Geometry

    Published by The Lobby Gallery Park Avenue and 59th Street, New York, NY. 2020 Read more
  • James Little

    James Little

    2021 Read more
  • Afro-American abstraction: An exhibition of contemporary painting and sculpture by nineteen black American artists

    Afro-American abstraction: An exhibition of contemporary painting and sculpture by nineteen black American artists

    Read more
  • The Shape of Abstraction: Selections from the Ollie Collection

    The Shape of Abstraction: Selections from the Ollie Collection

    2020 Read more
  • <i>The Shape of Abstraction</i>

    The Shape of Abstraction

    Selections From The Ollie Collection, Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, MO Read more
  • Louise Nevelson + James Little

    Louise Nevelson + James Little

    Published by Rosenbaum Contemporary, 2020 Read more
  • Color / Line / Form

    Color / Line / Form

    Published by Rosenbaum Contemporary, 2018 Read more
  • James Little: Untold Stories

    James Little: Untold Stories

    James Harithas, 2007 Read more
  • James Little: Reaching for the Sky

    James Little: Reaching for the Sky

    George N'Namdi, Al Loving, Robert Costa, Horace Brockington, Robert C. Morgan, James Haritas, 2005 Read more
Events
  • Opening Reception: James Little, Black Stars & White Paintings

    Opening Reception: James Little, Black Stars & White Paintings

    Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St. Fl. 1 12 Nov 2022
    Join Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St. on Saturday, November 12 from 4–7 PM for the opening reception of Black Stars & White Paintings, the highly anticipated solo exhibition of new paintings by New York-based abstract artist James Little, a critically and publicly celebrated highlight of the 2022 Whitney Biennial, Quiet as It's Kept. This event is free and open to the public. In her recent longform profile on Little in The New York Times, Hilarie M. Sheets described Little as “one of the breakout stars” of the Biennial, describing how...
    Read more

Related artist

  • James Little

    James Little

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835 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, IL 60607

Hours | Tue–Fri: 11 am–5 pm, Sat: 11 am–5 pm

219 N. Elizabeth St. Chicago, IL 60607

Hours | Thurs-Fri: 11am-5pm, Sat: 12pm-5pm 

215 E. Buffalo St. #219 New Buffalo, MI 49117

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