Walter Price's 'Pearl Lines' at Galerie Barbara Wien explores inequality through red-toned works

Walter Price's exhibition 'Pearl Lines' at Galerie Barbara Wien in Berlin runs through 21 January, featuring works that address inequality and conflict along gendered and racial lines. The American painter presents eleven black sketches on blood-red grounds, framed under dark-tinted acrylic, alongside six panel paintings also dominated by red tones. Titles reference 'Panthers', evoking the Black Power organization, while figures range from undressed women to muscular depictions like 'Strong woman doing squats' (2022). A frieze of five small canvases titled 'Conversations' (2022) suggests dialogue, and the show includes sculptural elements such as 'Talking in circles' (2022), a floor-based circle of canvases. A found object, 'The weight of thought' (2022), features a burgundy suitcase with zip-tied books, including Rosey Grier's 'All-American Heroes: Today's Multi-cultural Success Stories' (1993) and a sealed leather-bound diary. Price has used the title 'Pearl Lines' for all his shows since 2016, and in an interview, he explains his choice of red as the dominant color on the German flag and inspired by Matisse's 'Red Room'. The exhibition avoids straightforward interpretation, with works like 'Designated Area' (2022) depicting mournful men playing musical chairs around an 'Alpha' armchair, and 'Double checking my high hopes' (2020) blending abstraction with human dynamics.