The facts surrounding Breonna Taylor’s death are plainly written and lie in contrast to the intimacy of the rendered space of Taylor’s home.Īll of the works in the show are figural: either of a human figure or of flowers as symbols of remembrance, honor, and mourning. Next to this work, and several other works in the show, is a wall label that gives some historic context to the events surrounding the painting’s subject. This security makes even more poignant the violent invasion of Taylor’s private space that we know is to come. The sole figure is lying on a sofa, one leg bent, one hanging over the sofa’s left arm, enjoying the comfort of being in the privacy of home. Packer includes various objects that she, or any viewer, would likely also have at home, drawing a connection between Taylor and the artist or the viewer, and highlighting Taylor’s own humanity. Filled with yellows and greens and a solid pink square in the upper right quadrant, the painting depicts a domestic scene that feels both intimate yet also very regular. It presents part of Breonna Taylor’s home, based on various photographs that emerged after her death.
On stepping off the elevator, one is met with a very large painting entitled Blessed are Those Who Mourn (Breonna! Breonna!). Blessed are Those Who Mourn (Breonna! Breonna!), 2020, Oil on canvas, 118 x 172 ½ inches The works read as drawings in paint with all of the movement and feeling found in the best of drawings. Though Packer is a painter, and the works are paint on canvas or linen, she seems less concerned with the materiality of paint and more concerned with drawing. The works largely are about the Black experience and include several works about individuals who have recently been killed by police violence and with it the lack of consideration for the Black body. Packer paints from observation and the works clearly show her attention to tender consideration, imbuing the figures, who appear almost viscerally lost in thought, with emotion. Jennifer Packer’s solo show, The Eye is not Satisfied with Seeing, installed on the 8 th floor of the Whitney Museum of American Art, is well worth a visit.
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