1. Vaughn Spann | “A peek through the clouds…New Dawn” (Marked Man)

100,000–150,000 USD

Details

Vaughn Spann
b. 1992
“A peek through the clouds…New Dawn” (Marked Man)
2021
Polymer paint, mixed media, canvas on wood panel
84 1/8 by 84 1/8 by 3 in. (213.4 by 213.4 by 7.6 cm)

PROVENANCE
Courtesy of the artist and Almine Rech

CATALOGUE NOTE
Anchored in his own personal experience, Vaughn Spann’s multivalent practice probes expansive social and political issues. For instance, in his series ‘Marked Man’ (2019–ongoing), he paints striking images of the letter ‘x’ emerging from and over vibrant mottled grounds. The works were born out of Spann’s experience of being stopped and frisked by the police, with the ‘x’ functioning as a gesture of being marked — a condition that resonates with all Black people who have been victims of police harassment in the US and beyond — as well as a symbol of anonymity and the unknown. In this way, the works might also be read as selfportraits. Spann systematically evades categorization in his practice, refusing to settle on one particular aesthetic or style; his only constant is a commitment to the fluidity of his works’ meaning. Born in Florida, in 1992, and currently based in Newark, NY, Spann completed an MFA at Yale School of Art in 2018 and recently undertook a year-long fellowship at NXTHVN, the new national model for arts education cofounded by artist Titus Kaphar in New Haven, CT. Spann’s work is held in several public collections, including: The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC; Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL; Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ: Rubell Museum, Miami, FL; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH; and the Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL.

For inquiries, please email us at eneckes@aspenartmuseum.org .