“I wanted to put blackness back into the spectrum.”
—Vaughn SpannFor American contemporary painter Vaughn Spann, materiality and color hold meaning beyond the canvas. A promise of sunshine after the rain, a monumental work executed in 2021, is a testament to both: while visually resplendent, the work holds textural interest as well – both choices which hold deeper implications in regards to race and power.
The present work is a part of a series of ‘Rainbow Paintings’ by the artist, first begun when the artist was an MFA student at Yale University. While the motif of the rainbow may seem to convey feelings of joy and happiness, Spann’s Rainbow series in fact carries a more mournful message. The works were created as a tribute to Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teenager who was killed while walking home from a local convenience store in Florida in 2012. Martin was holding skittles and an iced tea when the fatal incident occurred. The rainbow in Spann’s series, on one level, perhaps references the artificial colors of the candy, while on another level serves as a promise of better times to come, as the title prophesizes. Set against a turbulent blue background, Spann’s rainbow seems to almost glow – becoming a physical beacon in and of itself.
A detail of the present work. Throughout history, rainbows have served as a comforting symbol of new beginnings, peace, or the spirit of a loved one for those experiencing grief. Spann draws on this notion while adding his own addition – the inclusion of a black arc in the rainbow. This decision, above all, speaks to color and its complexities in the United States; both the artist’s own lived reality, and that of Black men in general. Often taken for granted or overlooked, artists like Spann make space for Blackness by reinventing classic symbols such as the multicolored arc.
A Promise of Sunshine After the Rain is painted on terry cloth – a choice made by the artist not only to destabilize the traditional separations between painting and textile, but as a reference to a personal memory; “On Sundays, in my grandparent’s home, my grandmother and I would fold towels. It was a way of learning responsibility, but also to bond with family.”i With this personal anecdote in mind, the artist’s materials take on a new level of affect, almost imbuing the work with a sense of childhood naivete and innocence. One cannot help but imagine Martin as that same child, folding towels and spending time with family.
Spann’s choice of medium combined with his altered depiction of a rainbow creates a work that invites myriad interpretations but ultimately stands alone as a poignant homage and hopeful emblem for the future.
iVaughn Spann, interviewed by Sasha Bogojev, “The Rising Star: Vaughn Spann Has Arrived,” Juxtapoz, March 26, 2019, online.
Condition Report
Description
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Provenance
Almine Rech
Acquired from the above by the present ownerArtist Biography
Vaughn Spann
Vaughn Spann is an American contemporary artist whose practice explores the natures of space, memory, and time using the ostensibly competing languages of abstraction and figuration. Approaching his work through traditional formalistic lenses focusing on line, color, and shape, Spann locates subjects from deeply personal spaces and articulates their essences on the painted surface, using metaphysical reflections to question our experiencing of the world around us.
Spann uses painting to recreate encounters with people and places he finds compelling, gauging their essences when viewed through in retrospect. His experimentations with unconventional materials augments his explorations of personal and historical narratives. Spann lives and works in New Haven, Connecticut, where he also received his MFA from Yale University.
Property from a Private Collection, Miami
16
A promise of sunshine after the rain
signed, titled, inscribed and dated "Vaughn Spann 2021 "A PROMISE OF SUNSHINE AFTER THE RAIN" (BIG BLACK RAINBOW)" on the reverse
polymer paint and terry cloth on canvas
80 1/4 x 84 1/2 in. (203.8 x 214.6 cm)
Executed in 2021.
Estimate
$120,000 - 180,000
Avery Semjen
Specialist, Head of New Now Sale
T +1 212 940 1207
asemjen@phillips.com
New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art
New York Auction 25 September 2024