Personal Identities Pair with Sartorial Expression in Paintings by Glenn Hardy Jr.

"Based in Washington, D.C., Hardy is a self-taught painter whose bold portraits emphasize Black life "liberated from the burdens of racial stereotypes and conflict," says Charlie James Gallery, which is currently presenting the show. The figures in Hardy's compositions often engage in everyday leisure activities or settle into places of refuge and camaraderie, like studios, athletic courts, and domestic spaces."

"Building Identities Through Style emphasizes fashion as more than simply personal expression or "self-celebration," as described in a statement. Hardy examines the complexities of garments, trends, and luxury through the lens of desire and access, juxtaposing elements of reality and fantasy-especially in a series of paintings of mannequins topped with realistic visages, like individual characters being pieced together as their tailored apparel takes shape."

"The artist is interested in how sartorial choices nod to complex systems of negotiation and judgment that inform our understanding of conformity, difference, and a sense of belonging. "Hardy not only interrogates the manner in which Black bodies are seen and assessed, but also the ways in which stylistic excellence has become both reputational armor and a source of joy, experimentation, and play," the gallery says."

Glenn Hardy Jr. presents bold portraits that center Black life freed from racial stereotypes, set within leisure and domestic spaces that suggest refuge and camaraderie. Building Identities Through Style treats fashion as a site of negotiation, analyzing garments, trends, and luxury through desire and access while combining elements of reality and fantasy. Mannequin paintings merge realistic visages with tailored apparel to illustrate constructed identities. Sartorial choices register systems of judgment that shape perceptions of conformity, difference, and belonging. Stylistic excellence operates as reputational armor and as a source of joy, experimentation, play, and identity formation.

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