A Passage of Force Through Matter: Current Painting
MAIN LEVEL GALLERIES
Featured artists: Tom Bunnell, Asha Elana Casey, Claudia “Aziza” Gibson-Hunter, Matthew Mann, Maggie Michael, and Marisa Rasum
Curated by Blair Murphy
A Passage of Force Through Matter demonstrates the vibrancy of painting in contemporary art and considers the role it plays in our visual world.
The exhibition frames painting as a practice that artists use to reconcile and transcend their own experiences of our overburdened image landscape–both the physical world and the endless scroll of news images, selfies, digitally-created content and, increasingly, AI-generated materials that fill our various screens.
The phrase “a passage of force through matter” is borrowed from art historian David Joselit’s text for the 2016 exhibition Painting 2.0. In Joselit’s text, the phrase describes the painterly mark, drawing attention to the material manipulation at the heart of painting. This perspective ties the exhibition into broader conversations on the role of painting in the present moment. We encounter an avalanche of images on a daily basis, on a succession of screens that present an illusion of depth on a smooth, flat surface. How can painting, which blurs the boundary between object and image, interrupt the relationship we have with visual representation in this environment?
Art After Hours
Saturday / February 22 / 5pm-8pm
Matthew Mann, Tongue Tie, 2023 (left) and Maggie Michael, Reverse Earth: Camo for Troubadour (Tony and Marlene), 2024 (right). Photo by Vivian Marie Doering.
Matthew Mann, Rib Pricks (with Apologies), 2021-2022 (left), Claudio “Aziza” Gibson-Hunter, If You Surrender to the Air You Can Ride It, 2024 (center), and Asha Elana Casey, Eloise, 2024 (right). Photo by Vivian Marie Doering. 
Tom Bunnell, So Quick Bright Things Come to Confusion, 2023 (left) and Marisa Rasum, Lucky, 2025 (right). Photo by Vivian Marie Doering. 
Claudia “Aziza” Gibson-Hunter, We Circled in the Field, 2024 (left) and Asha Elana Casey, Eloise’s Realm, 2024 (right). Photo by Vivian Marie Doering. 
Matthew Mann, State of Arcadia, 2021-2023 (left) and Maggie Michael, Reverse Earth/Orientation: Swimmers’ Breath (to the left, to the right) (right). Photo by Vivian Marie Doering. 
Marisa Rasum, Clyde’s Motel, 2021 (left) and Maggie Michael, Tree Vision with Serpent, No Eve, Fear of Fire, 2022 (right). Photo by Vivian Marie Doering.
