Artist Christina Quarles has launched her first solo exhibition with Hauser & Wirth in Los Angeles, titled "The Ground Glows Black." The new body of work features her signature fluid, elastic depictions of bodies, but introduces a more "untethered" and monochromatic aesthetic influenced by recent personal trauma. The paintings and works on paper were created in the aftermath of the Eaton fire, which destroyed the artist's home and community in Altadena.
This exhibition marks a significant milestone for Quarles as her debut with a major global gallery in her home city. The shift in her practice—incorporating charcoal and exploring light sources like sodium-vapor lamps—reflects how contemporary artists process environmental disasters and personal grief through formal experimentation. Her continued exploration of biracial and queer identity through the plasticity of acrylic paint remains a central pillar of her critically acclaimed practice.