Calvin Pressley: Only People Know Me
On view: May 3–June 27, 2025
Curated by Barbara Felix
Spanning 15 years of relentless creation, this exhibition unfolds as both a retrospective and a transition point. Pressley, once defined by prolific output and unrelenting artistic momentum, now stands at a crossroads, grappling with the weight of past work and the challenge of what comes next. The show brings together a selection of paintings and drawings that chart the evolution of an artist who, despite the feeling of diminished productivity, remains fiercely committed to reinvention.
“In recent years I’ve been haunted by my own past work,” says Pressley. “This exhibition isn’t about nostalgia—it’s about facing the echoes of what I’ve made and a step into something new.”
Through layered brushwork, fragmented compositions, and a dialogue between past and present styles, Only People Know Me reveals the tension between artistic identity and transformation. The works on view, some never exhibited before, offer a raw, unfiltered look at an artist who refuses to settle into repetition.
Curator’s Statement
"Calvin Pressley’s paintings merge subjective portraiture with abstract perspectives on the human form, drawing us into a deeply intimate lens on his lived experiences. Through a nuanced exploration of color's psychology, each work becomes a translation— his own language of visual and emotional poetry."
–Barbara Felix