In Turin, from 28 May to 14 July 2020, Luce Gallery presents the solo show “I Painted Flowers For You” of February James.

The African American artist is inspired by an autobiographical narrative, which captures the essence of people rather than their physicality. Drawing on aspects of her own identity and experiences lived in the family environment, she unmasks the Self in hardly accessible moments. To reflect on sexuality and the body, on death and the subconscious, she explores what hovers at the margins.

A succession of different faces in the paintings and drawings - conceived preferring watercolor, oil pastels and graphite powder - expresses deep and often hidden emotions. Through bright colors and distorted forms, February James represents the intangible of emotional core, as it can appear in memories and dreams. Interested in the projection that the viewer elaborates on the work, she investigates the determining factors in the construction of the Self and questions the concept of truth conditioned by the structures through which it is perceived.

The decomposed figures portrayed up close invite those who contemplate them to attribute subjective characterizations, which depend on relational processes constantly active in the individual memory.

The Cut-Outs works on shaped wood with canvas stretched over it and the subjects painted in segments or broken by the line of a new page led the artist to explore more intensely the fragmentation of the human psyche.

In Turin, from 28 May to 14 July 2020, Luce Gallery presents the solo show “I Painted Flowers For You” of February James.

The African American artist is inspired by an autobiographical narrative, which captures the essence of people rather than their physicality. Drawing on aspects of her own identity and experiences lived in the family environment, she unmasks the Self in hardly accessible moments. To reflect on sexuality and the body, on death and the subconscious, she explores what hovers at the margins.

A succession of different faces in the paintings and drawings - conceived preferring watercolor, oil pastels and graphite powder - expresses deep and often hidden emotions. Through bright colors and distorted forms, February James represents the intangible of emotional core, as it can appear in memories and dreams. Interested in the projection that the viewer elaborates on the work, she investigates the determining factors in the construction of the Self and questions the concept of truth conditioned by the structures through which it is perceived.

The decomposed figures portrayed up close invite those who contemplate them to attribute subjective characterizations, which depend on relational processes constantly active in the individual memory.

The Cut-Outs works on shaped wood with canvas stretched over it and the subjects painted in segments or broken by the line of a new page led the artist to explore more intensely the fragmentation of the human psyche.

February James, I Had to Bury Myself to Make Myself Whole Again, 2020, spray paint, oil and oil pastel on canvas mounted on shaped wood, 182.8 x 182.8 cm (72 x 72 inches), Photo Andrea Ferrari, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin

February James, It’s okay to feel what you feel, 2020, oil, liquid graphite and watercolor on canvas, 55.8 x 50.8 cm, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin

February James, To Much To Soon, 2020, oil and watercolor on canvas, 40.6 x 30.4 cm (15.9 x 11.9 inches), Photo Andrea Ferrari, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin