Object number2021.3.1

Questions for Sol

Portfolio/Seriesfrom the series Black Alchemy Vol. 2 (2018)

Date2018

Artist Aaron Turner (American, born 1990)

CultureAmerican

MediumInkjet print, printed 2020

EditionEdition 1 of 6

DimensionsImage: 25 x 20 in. (63.5 x 50.8 cm)
Sheet: 26 x 21 in. (66 x 53.3 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, Friends of Vassar College Art Gallery Fund

On View

Not on view

Period21st c

Classification(s)

Photograph

SignedOn verso, signed in black ink on label in lower right corner: A Turner

InscribedOn verso, handwritten by the artist in black ink on white label in lower right corner: QUESTIONS FOR SOL, 2018 / [signature] / 1 of 6 20in x 25in AARON R. TURNER

BibliographyBrier, Jessica D.. On the Grid: Ways of Seeing in Print. Poughkeepsie, NY: Vassar College in association with Scala Arts Publishers, Inc., 2022, pl. 52 ProvenancePurchased directly from the artist

Vassar Exhibitions

On the Grid: Ways of Seeing in Print

Chronostasia: Select Acquisitions 2020–2025

Exhibition HistoryOn the Grid: Ways of Seeing in Print, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, August 20 - December 22, 2022

Label TextAaron Turner photographs ephemeral studio installations—projections layered with shadows, mirrors, and assembled objects—using a large-format camera. The title addresses the conceptual artist Sol LeWitt while also questioning art historical hierarchies. For example, why does systematic conceptualism receive canonical status when pioneering Black abstractionists remain marginalized? His practice pursues “Black Alchemy,” which approaches identity, racial passing, abstraction, and the historical archive while considering the Black artist as subject and blackness as material. Turner explores black chromatics, drawing from lineages including McArthur Binion and Stanley Whitney. He uses the darkroom’s processes as metaphor for racial inequity, and reclaims minimalist vocabularies through photographic intervention. Each image captures temporary constructions that challenge established narratives while asserting abstraction as a site of resistance and reclamation.

DescriptionBlack and white image of irregularly shaped areas of striped material, possibly paper, and possibly held together in parts with tape. A small area in the right side is a smooth dark grey absence of the stripes.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu