Artist Chaz Guest has a new show MEMORIES OF WARRIORS at Vito Schnabel’s gallery in New York.

The power of Guest’s work is in the intensity of the experience. He paints with such conviction, a master at the height of his ability. A palette of burning orange and blue black hues heighten the drama. The work is arresting. Scale and colour infuse the enormity of emotion that is conveyed. But it is the narrative that resonates. His warriors demand you commune with the past.

Chaz Guest Memories of Warriors at Vito Schnabel Gallery — Installation view: Chaz Guest, *Memories of Warriors*, Vito Schnabel Gallery, New York © Chaz Guest; Photo by Argenis Apolinario

Guest is reimagining the world. There is no denying the past in this work, but the directness of the gaze, the innocence in the eyes of his warriors begs a question, can we see the world differently?

Vision by Chaz Guest — *Vision,* 2017 shows the soldier depicted in the series as a boy in a cotton field. Courtesy of .Chaz Guest and Vito Schnabel Gallery

From the exhibition notes Schnabel writes about Guest’s work: “Motivated by a desire to express the vulnerable, sensitive nature of our shared humanity, his art explores and recasts existing cultural narratives, acknowledging the tragic truths of America’s history of racism and enslavement in a way that spotlights contemporary exigencies and open paths toward healing. Reframing buried tales and long misrepresented facts, Guest uses stories of his own making to capture the spirits of his subjects. He deploys bravura mythmaking to unite people in a new common experience and ignite shared responses.“