Vaughn Spann’s Harvest Moon (Marked Man), 2021, from the artist’s Marked Man series, explores the formal qualities of the letter “X” while also drawing upon themes of memory, activism, history of art and the artist’s identity as a Black man. The present work is part of a repeated investigation into the graphic qualities of the letter but contains a weightier conceptual exploration of racial violence.
Spann first acknowledges the Marked Man series in formal terms, “They came from an interest in assigning new meaning to an extremely recognizable form. How can I take an X, allow it to be my muse for painting, invite conversations of color, line, form,” but stresses the importance of allowing the form to “open deeper conversations.”i Indeed, Harvest Moon (Marked Man) originates from Spann’s pivotal and sadly familiar experience of systemic racism: “I found myself severely traumatized by a stop and frisk altercation during college as I was profiled by police while leaving a study session. I felt the weight of having to spread my legs and hold my hands up in the air which while feel defenseless, violated and infuriated which sparked an interest into the form.”ii This notably coincided with Spann studying at Yale University under the tutelage of Claudia Rankine, whose examination of daily racial aggressions and social interactions against black men was pivotal for Spann’s development of his Marked Man series.
In the present work, a bright pink “X,” rendered in serif typeface, is further emphasized by an electric green halo while an added layer of deep purple grounds the four corners of the letter. Curator Lisa Freiman, who organized the artist’s solo exhibition at the Samek Art Museum at Bucknell University last year, describes Spann’s work as, “improvisational and athletically built up,” creating emotional and forceful, “seemingly volcanic or geological reliefs.” The thickly impastoed pigment is impressively built up, so much so that the irregular, organic formations of paint contrast with the angular shape of the letter. The unique color of each “X” work is the grounds for painterly exploration and provides the work a distinct personality. The acid-bright palette of Marked Man is unique to the present work, its “X” representing a parson, a target, specific and variable.
• Traversing figuration and abstraction, Spann has developed distinct styles that have garnered the young artist impressive institutional and market recognition in just the few years since he graduated from Yale University with his MFA in 2018.
• Other formal investigations have focused on rainbows, dalmatian spots and flags. Uniting across these formal explorations is Spann’s delightful tactility and commitment to conceptual concerns through symbolism.
• Spann is represented by Almine Rech and David Castillo and has shown with Gagosian, New York; Blum & Poe, Los Angeles; Half Gallery, New York; and Kaikai Kiki, Tokyo.