Boy Kong “O”

Gitler &

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Gitler &_____ presents the latest solo exhibition from BoyKong, entitled O. Comprising eight new acrylic paintings on circular panels, all roughly equal in diameter, Kong depicts in this body of work a collection of figures and organic forms in motion and rendered in holistic proportion to their unique context. The circle often lends itself to still portraiture. In O, Kong instead sees infinite and circuitous movement, whole compositions not bound but freed within a sacred geometric form.

Kong’s gifts for synthesizing all manner of natural forms and surrealistic circumstances is on full display in O. Taking as his subjects a hummingbird, a horse jockey, a rabbit, a basketball player, and a girl catching butterflies, to name a few, the artist casts each in what he has called “absolute movement.” By this logic, each portrait is an exercise in depicting the absolute value of the subject at hand. Motion and rhythm appear to exist in a constant state, no longer defined by the physical or physiological limitations we often take for granted.

Within the relative confines of the frame, Kong gives his subjects a fluid dynamism. Limbs stretch and wind to their apparent limits, but always remain in harmonic stride, boundless, hand in hand with itself like in a circle dance. In similar studies, Kong will often prioritize movement over organic forms or a sense of realism, but in O, his subjects’ coloration is more grounded. And yet, the fluidity of the brushstrokes complements and even exaggerates the push and pull of each subject, working to draw one’s focus to the central axis point from which all movement begins and ends.

Boy Kong (b.1993, Orlando, FL) is a self-taught painter, muralist, sculptor, and collagist. Gitler &_____ is located in Hamilton Heights, NYC.