We are thrilled to announce the launch of the virtual component of the solo show Golden Hour—an Appraisal by the Chicago-based queer artist Laura Kina, live on Artsy now [view the virtual show] 

Looking through the artist’s archive for the show felt very daunting and intense,” the gallery director Jan Christian Bernabe states, "'Prolific' describes Laura Kina's art practice to the letter. I felt like falling into so many histories head-first—that of the artist’s ancestors and Kina’s personal history in Chicago. The intersecting historical narratives, I hope, will bring to light how the everyday experiences by the artist always connect to larger historical forces."

The curated work in Golden Hour—an Appraisal. spans the years from 2009 to 2023 and captures Kina's work with textiles and fibers and, of course, painting. The narrative thread that weaves through each work is Kina’s focus on the quotidian and the historical archives, whether observed or imagined. In her paintings, Kina chooses the language of figuration to elevate personal stories and often overlooked histories, a technique influenced by her MFA advisor Kerry James Marshall while an MFA student at UIC.

The work in Golden Hour—an Appraisal showcases an artistic trajectory premised on self-discovery. During the pandemic years, Kina was diagnosed and treated successfully for breast cancer; and coupled perhaps with the isolation that the pandemic imposed on all of us, Kina came to terms with her queer identity. Her most recent show in 2023 in Riverside, IL, “Over the Rainbow, Once More Time” frames the tumultuous pandemic years, surviving breast cancer, and coming out.

We are humbled to present Golden Hour—an Appraisal. Many of the works from the solo shows during this period have been acquired by museums, in private collections, or have never been offered on the art market.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Opening in the C-Suite will be a selection of the artwork in “Golden Hour” on September 23, 4-7 pm.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Laura Kina is a queer mixed-race Okinawan American visual artist based in Chicago. Kina describes her studio practice as traveling time with her “diverse communities to remember the past, critically reflect on the present, and dream the future.” Her paintings, drawings, and textile work draw inspiration from her personal and ancestral narratives, Okinawan mythology, photographs of her everyday life and travels, family and community photo albums, archival research, and oral history. 

Kina received her BFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA in Studio Art from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has exhibited her paintings and mixed-media art nationally and internationally in galleries and museums including the Chicago Cultural Center, India International Centre, Japanese American National Museum, Okinawa Prefectural Art Museum, Rose Art Museum, the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Spertus Museum, and the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. Kina’s works are in public collections at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum, The Smithsonian Archives of American Art, DePaul University School of Music, and Heiwa Terrace. Kina is an Art Matters Foundation Grantee, a 3Arts Make A Wave artist, a Joan Mitchell Center Fellow, a 3AP Project awardee, and a Ragdale Fellow.