More about this artwork:

X González became an activist and spokesperson for gun control after surviving a mass school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018. Seventeen students and staff members were killed by a nineteen-year-old former student with an AR-15 assault rifle. The painting, based on a photograph by Rhona Wise, centers on a brief, private moment at an anti-gun rally. The crowd recedes in a blur as González stands in sharp focus, eyes closed, pausing between words. As if suspended in time, the image conveys a sense of weariness and emotion amid an urgent moment. The meticulous photorealist surface is interrupted by gestural paint splatters, which introduce a sense of chaos and intrusion. With this defiant gesture, Quinn also disrupts the pervasive filter of news media that sensationalizes individual human experience. The artist purchased the rights to this image (as he does with all the source photographs in the series) immediately after its circulation. In contrast to the rapid consumption of digital media, Quinn’s paintings are executed over a period of months, creating a new temporal space in which individuals are shown participating in the making of contemporary history.