Opening Reception: Sunday, January 16th, 3-5pm
Dates: January – Fall 2022
Location: The Colony Hotel, 155 Hammon Ave, Palm Beach, FL 33480
Hours: Monday – Sunday, 10 am–6 pm, and by appointment
Voltz Clarke Gallery is pleased to present The Pilgrimage, a comprehensive solo exhibition featuring new works by artist Khalilah Birdsong.
Khalilah Birdsong creates large-scale abstract paintings and installations that combine physicality of medium with
finely calibrated balance. Her process employs loose, free gestures and has deep roots in her surrounding environment. Whether it means hunkering down in the North Georgia mountains, living in the rainforests of Maui, Hawaii or starting her MFA at Goldsmiths in London, Birdsong makes a point to surround herself with nature and fervently explore its influence.
“I am interested in survival and resurgence. Distress and weathering are palpable on the canvas, but so is resurgence. I build layers up and then take them away to create a painting that is, ultimately, whole. The process of layering and stripping builds contusions, bumps and raw ridges, but also reveals patches of older, more forgotten colors. Every painting is an experience through process, which translates to the canvas to create a story that can only be experienced visually. My process is strenuous to the medium. Through it, my paintings achieve resolution.”
Birdsong has participated in solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Japan, Germany and Italy. Her paintings are held in numerous private and corporate collections, including that of former President Barack Obama, where they are currently under consideration to hang in his Presidential Library. While fiercely unique in both concept and process, Birdsong’s style echoes the greats, including Alfred Leslie, Joan Mitchell, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Jack Whitten and, of course, Gerhard Richter.
In 2019, Birdsong was named by Contemporary Art Curator Magazine (London, England) as one of the “100 Future Contemporary Artists in the World”. That year, she also participated in the XIIth Florence Biennale where she exhibited four large-scale paintings and installations. In 2020, Birdsong was awarded a Hambidge Fellowship for the Creative Arts & Sciences. She currently resides in London, England, where she recently began her matriculation at Goldsmiths, University of London to pursue her Masters of Fine Art.
The Colony Palm Beach | This winter, The Pilgrimage will explore Birdsong’s signature medium in a manner that effortlessly complements the ebb and flow of seasonal migrations to Palm Beach. Voltz Clarke Gallery has been exhibiting at The Colony since 2017, inviting hotel guests, visitors, and locals alike to explore a rotating selection of contemporary art at this iconic property just steps from Worth Avenue and the Atlantic Ocean. Hours of operation for ‘The Solarium’ are 10am to 6pm seven days a week, or by appointment via the Guest Services Department at The Colony.
