Walter Price: Pearl Lines

Brooklyn-based artist Walter Price (b. 1989) isn’t afraid of color. Instead, he sees freedom and joy in its endless possibilities. One glimpse at his exuberant canvases, which burst with lush, vivid hues, make this perspective abundantly clear. In August, visitors to the Walker Art Center will have an opportunity to experience nearly 25 of Price’s evocative paintings, which blur the boundaries between figuration and abstraction and draw viewers into his singular visual world. Titled Walter Price: Pearl Lines, the exhibition represents the most in-depth museum exploration of the artist’s practice to date and features selections from significant bodies of work produced between 2017 and 2023, including a painting acquired by the Walker in 2020 that will be on public display for the first time. 

Walter Price: Pearl Lines will be on view from August 8 to December 8, 2024. It is curated by Rosario Güiraldes, Curator of Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center, in close collaboration with the artist with whom Güiraldes has a longstanding relationship. The exhibition also marks the first major presentation by Güiraldes since she joined the Walker Art Center from The Drawing Center in New York in May 2023.

“Walter is one of the most exciting voices to have emerged in contemporary painting. He has a boundless love of painting, and his work explores the full gamut of painting’s communicative possibilities through color, line, form, and composition,” said Güiraldes. “We are thrilled to present an in-depth exploration of Walter’s practice at this critical moment in his career and to engage our community with his expansive and incisive approach. As an important interlocutor of mine over the years, it is an honor to begin my tenure at the Walker with an exhibition of his work. I believe that it will deeply resonate with our many visitors.”

Pearl Lines includes a broad spectrum of works, capturing Price’s prolific practice. Among the works are a selection of smaller-scale paintings, produced in 2020, including Hold the umbrella tight while viewing my rain; They don’t LOVE you, Yet; Square. Box. A foundation of Intellectualism; Swoosh; and So much intellectual work to remain wrong. The exhibition also includes works produced at a monumental scale, such as Global Outcry (2018-2020) and “It got uncomfortable, immediately!” (2022), among numerous others. Step into the Spotlight (2018), a painting from the Walker’s collection, will be shown for the first time alongside Earth mother (2018) and Pleasure the false God (2018).

“I’m very grateful for each opportunity that I get to express my ideas,” said Price. “All of this feels just like a dream. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and continue to appreciate what I do. I’ll continue to bet on myself and share my joy of painting.”