12. 26

Kesewa Aboah: There Is Life In This Nakedness

05.18.24 – 06.15.24

Opening Saturday, May 18 // 6-8pm

12.26 is pleased to present There is Life in this Nakedness, an exhibition of new work by UK-based artist Kesewa Aboah on view at the gallery’s Dallas location. This exhibition which features large-scale, hand embroideries with body prints and small etchings on metal, marks the artist’s second solo presentation with the gallery following her solo booth at The Armory in New York in 2022.

There is Life in this Nakedness continues Aboah’s investigations into the body as a medium and its ability to serve as a powerful conduit for the exploration of human connections, emotions, and the ephemeral nature of existence. The exhibition title alludes to the raw vulnerability and inherent vitality present in the artist’s work, where the body becomes a living canvas for self-expression and interpersonal encounters.

The exhibition is primarily composed of embroideries featuring body impressions, each one a testament to a fleeting moment forever preserved in the fabric. These impressions, created through Aboah’s encounters with herself and others, stand as intimate records of presence, proclaiming, “I was here.” The artist meticulously embroiders the negative space surrounding the body prints, paying homage to the impressed figures while simultaneously reshaping the context and boundaries of the work. The delicate threads, woven with intention and care, add layers of nuance and ambiguity, inviting viewers to confront the complexities of the human condition.

Alongside the embroideries, Aboah presents etchings on metal that mimic the negative space in her fabric works. These etchings serve as a powerful testament to the artist’s pursuit of permanence amidst the transient nature of existence.

Aboah considers the body not merely as a subject, but as a potent medium for exploring the intricacies of human experience. Her embroideries and etchings blur the boundaries between the personal and the universal, the ephemeral and the enduring, creating a space where viewers can engage with the fundamental questions of existence.

Kesewa Aboah (b. 1994, London, U.K.) lives and works in London. She received her BA in Fine Arts from School of Visual Arts, New York (2017). Her work has been exhibited internationally, with solo presentations at Incubator 23, London; The Armory Show, 12.26, New York, NY; as well as group presentations at Frieze No. 9 Cork Street, London; Christies London, London; Timothy Taylor Gallery, London. Aboah was an Artist in Residence at ArtsIceland in Isafordur, Iceland in 2018.

Karla García:
Shifting Ground

05.18.24 – 06.15.24

Opening Saturday, May 18 // 6-8pm

12.26 is pleased to present Shifting Ground, a solo exhibition of immersive landscape installations by multidisciplinary artist Karla García in the gallery’s Dallas location. Drawing inspiration from her lived experiences in the Texas-Mexico borderlands and the Dallas prairie, García creates a meditative space that reflects on the resilience of nature and the human spirit in the face of constant change.

In Texas, the stark beauty of desert cacti and delicate prairie grasses become symbols of the human condition—a visual language that García employs to explore themes of resilience, locality, and the unruly nature of the unmanicured. Her sculptural works, crafted using traditional coil-building and pinching techniques, are distorted to create cacti that shrink and expand, surrounded by prairie grass. The colors, ranging from natural brown and black to light and dark blue-gray hues, evoke a grounding strength, the night sky, rain, and bodies of water.

While developing this series, García studied the flora of her Mexican heritage, the specificity of the Dallas prairie, and the beauty of weeds. She layers her installations with these elements, creating a dialogue between the plant life, herself, and the land. Accompanying the sculptures are new drawings made with clay slip, depicting various land conditions—dry and cracked, or muddy and fluid—that quietly reference her research, communicating a feeling of, rather than a translation of, the ever-changing landscape.

Distorted cacti sculptures, earthen colors, and clay slip drawings, become a metaphor for the ever-changing world we inhabit—a reminder that even in times of unrest, there is beauty and strength to be found in the natural world. Through her work, García invites visitors to pause, to contemplate, and to find solace in the gentle, contemplative gestures that shape our environment.

Karla García (b. 1977, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México) received her MFA in Ceramics at University of North Texas, Denton, TX (2019). Recent solo exhibitions include: The Old Jail Art Center (Cell Series), Albany, TX (2023); Norman Brown Gallery, Goldmark Cultural Center, Dallas, TX (2022); 12.26, Dallas, TX (2021) The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX (2020), among others. Recent group exhibitions include: Varuni K. Divisions Gallery, Victoria, Australia (2023); Centro de Artes, San Antonio, TX (2023); Presa House Gallery, San Antonio, TX (2023); The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Conference, Cincinnati, OH (2023), among others. In 2022, García mounted a binational site-specific installation entitled La Línea Imaginaria which honored the Texas/ Mexico borderland. Her signature ceramic cacti ceramics unified the landscape which is divided by the border wall, temporarily joining the two cities of El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. García was an Artist in Residence at 100W Artist & Writer Residency in Corsicana, TX (2021) and completed a Ceramics Residency at the International Artists Residency Exchange in St. Raphael, France (2020). García was a recipient of the Nasher Artist Grant in 2021 as well as the NEA U.S. Consulate in Juarez, México in 2022. García lives and works in Dallas, TX.

12.26

150 Manufacturing Street, #205
Dallas, Texas 75207

214-533-8263

Hours:
Tuesday – Friday: by appointment only.
Saturday: 1pm – 5pm

www.gallery1226.com