Back In Black

Royale Projects is pleased to announce ‘Back in Black’ a group exhibition featuring Knowledge Bennett, Shauna La, Sol LeWitt, Nathan Mabry, Ed Moses, Louise Nevelson, Richard Serra, Richard Shapiro, and Rubén Ortiz Torres opening June 1, 2024 from 12 - 5pm. ​​This exhibition was built in collaboration with top collectors, curators, gallerists, artists, and private dealers.

A sole unifier of this exhibition, black, while technically not a color, is the result from the absence or absorption of visible light and has long been explored visually and conceptually throughout art history. From the earliest of pigments, charcoal black, to carbon black and lamp black, the color has been associated with mystery, rebellion, absence, darkness, elegance, and death.

Historically, it symbolized protection throughout Egyptian history, was one of the most important colors used by ancient Greek artists in black figure pottery, and played a significant role in European art notably in Carvaggio’s use of chiaroscuro and Goya's haunting ‘Black Paintings’. A 20th century breakthrough work, Malevich’s ‘Black Square (1915)’ was the inception for the launch of his Suprematist movement. This radical minimalism influenced artists such as Ad Reinhardt and Frank Stella who both created monochromatic black series devoid of references to anything outside of the work itself. 

“When I fell in love with black, it contained all color. It wasn’t a negation of color. It was an acceptance. Because black encompasses all colors. Black is the most aristocratic color of all” - Louis Nevelson