

visual:ear
2023
In "visual:ear" (2023), McArthur Binion layers ink, paper, and paintstick on board to produce a work that pulses with the measured intensity characteristic of his mature practice. The 50 × 50 centimeter panel operates as both grid and archive, its surface built from accumulations of mark and document that resist easy reading while rewarding sustained attention. The physical depth of 5.2 centimeters is no accident, as the work carries genuine sculptural weight, the board holding compressed histories of gesture and material that push outward toward the viewer. Binion's method involves repeating a deliberate, almost ritualistic mark across found personal documents, typically pages from his own diaries or identity papers, transforming private record into abstract pattern. In "visual:ear," this tension between the legible and the obscured gives the piece its psychological charge. The title itself suggests a collapse of sensory boundaries, inviting the collector to consider whether the work is received through sight alone or whether rhythm, repetition, and layered texture engage something closer to listening. Signed by the artist and presented as a singular object rather than a work within a series edition, "visual:ear" represents Binion at a moment of continued critical recognition, with institutional retrospectives and major gallery relationships confirming his central place in the discourse around abstraction, memory, and Black American identity. Currently available through Xavier Hufkens, this work offers collectors an opportunity to acquire a compact yet fully resolved example of one of contemporary art's most distinctive and historically grounded practices.
- Medium
- Ink, paper and paintstick on board
- Overall
- Signed
- Yes
- Location
- Xavier Hufkens, Brussels
- Spotted At
- Gallery · Xavier HufkensView on map
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