Zevitas Marcus is pleased to present Beyond Breaking, an exhibition of new paintings by Ashley Doggett.
Born and raised in Nashville, TN, Doggett’s work takes a deep dive into traditions and narratives that dwell in southern Black communities. Nuances of the day-to-day, long forgotten histories (and still visible remnants), personal childhood memories, and stories passed down from relatives, all coalesce to offer a holistic perspective of Southern Black life, in which moments and experiences often taken for granted, or misunderstood, are highlighted. Doggett’s work gives a visual platform to those identities and stories that have been assiduously passed down for generations. By making them visible in the act of painting, she honors the way her relationship with these narratives shifts with the past and present, with herself and others.
In Beyond Breaking, Doggett speaks to the cultural trappings of black women - where capital is exchanged for freedom and social mobility. In what is, perhaps, the artist’s most challenging body of work to date, Doggett unflinchingly confronts issues of violence, sex, and drug culture in the black community and tells powerful stories about how they shape individual and communal identity.