Khari Turner presents Magava, a self-created mythology chronicling the life of an embodied drop of water named "Magava." In his work, Turner mixes ink with water collected from oceans, lakes, and rivers with personal or historical significance. He utilizes this unique painting technique to consider the existence of a soul in water. What would it mean for the water in your body to have an existence beyond you? What would the soul of that drop of water be?  

Magava is the first presentation of this newly formed mythology, which has evolved and continues to evolve with Turner's own art practice. The story follows an oceanic tribe of beings made of water that create a life for themselves. A boy from this tribe named Magava (the Ghanaian word for "I shall return") ventures to the surface where he unintentionally evaporates into a cloud. Shocked, Magava cries out to return home from above the water. To his amazement the cloud responds that for him to return home, he must find his way to the lakes and rivers that flow back to the ocean. This exhibition is the first glimpse into Magava’s life as he reckons with himself on the long journey home, as a raindrop within a pool to fluid within the bodies of human beings. 

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Khari Turner holds a BFA in Studio Art from Austin Peay State University and an MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University. Turner has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions worldwide: Solid to Gas at Ross-Sutton Frieze Gallery in London (2023), Mirroring Reflection at the Museum of Wisconsin Art (2022), Blue Moon at the European Cultural Centre in Venice, Italy (2022), Hella Water at Voss Gallery in San Francisco (2021), and The Sea’s Own Children at Iris Project Gallery in Los Angeles (2021). His work has also been included in numerous national and international group exhibitions, including Filling in the Pieces in Black at Saatchi Gallery in London and Maruani Mercier in Brussels, Belgium (2023), Wading: When The Water Rises at Vox Populi Gallery in Philadelphia (2022), Black Excellence, Black Elegance at Ross-Sutton Gallery in New York (2021), SAY IT LOUD visionaries self at Christie’s, and many others. Turner has also participated in several artist residencies: the Marion Street Residency in Tennessee (2016), the Chautauqua Residency in New York (2019), the Iris Project Residency in California (2020), the CFHILL Residency in Stockholm, Sweden (2022), and the AIRIE Residency in Florida (2023). He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. 

eventS

Reception

JANUARY 24

5–7 PM

TXST GALLERIES