Artworks

Christina Quarles

American, b. 1985

Tell Me Tell Me, 2019

Ink on paper

13 x 19 in. (33 x 48.3 cm)

© Christina Quarles, courtesy of a private collection

For Quarles, language is something we deploy in conveyance of our conscious selves but also something we employ and encounter physically, not merely as manipulations of our tongues or vibrations in the ear, but as triggers of bodily movement and response. These actions and reactions often belie the “correct” syntax and grammar with which we circumscribe, stylize, or tailor the reach and impact of our words and actions. To be heard, or to be felt, is not de facto to be understood.