Titus Kaphar
Exhibiting Forgiveness Gagosian, Beverly Hills
September 13–November 2, 2024
Exhibiting Forgiveness points at hope without diminishing the challenges of forgiveness.—Titus Kaphar
Shown here for the first time, this group of paintings is featured in the artist’s first narrative feature film, Exhibiting Forgiveness (2023), which debuted at Sundance this year and will be released theatrically nationwide on October 18, 2024.
The semi-autobiographical Exhibiting Forgiveness stars André Holland as Tarrell Rodin, an accomplished painter whose life is upended by an unexpected reunion with his father, La’Ron (John Earl Jelks), a recovering addict who hopes to rebuild a relationship with his estranged son. Tarrell, now an active and loving father and husband, is skeptical despite the encouragement of his mother. Written and directed by Kaphar, Exhibiting Forgiveness follows his documentary shorts Shut Up and Paint (2022, shortlisted in the Documentary Short Film category of the 95th Academy Awards) and The Jerome Project (2016)—the latter of which was inspired by a painting series initiated in 2014 exploring the artist’s relationship with his own estranged father. Exhibiting Forgiveness is a direct, though fictionalized, extension of The Jerome Project.
In addition to portraits, the Exhibiting Forgiveness paintings depict figures, façades of neighborhood houses, personal objects, and ephemera. These are emotionally and intellectually charged pieces. The paintings preceded the film; as Kaphar says, “they spring from the same personal, emotional and psychological well” that is the source for all his work. Combining a mastery of oil painting techniques with application of heterogenous mediums and innovative methods, Kaphar challenges conventional representation to provoke deep contemplations of family, community, and memory. Painting some canvases in highly saturated palettes and draining others of color, he combines gold leaf with tar—suggesting both divine transcendence and being stuck. Kaphar renders grief and loss, obscuring bodies, or removing them outright with knife-cut excisions. What remains is a testament to how we continue to live despite our wounds.