There is just something about Chase Hall’s mark-making. He covers the faces of his subjects in stylized patterns that resemble African masks before staining the cotton with coffee. The artist’s marks make a lifeguard’s flotation device resemble an African shield. Other marks in the compositions make me think of Elizabeth Catlett’s woodcuts.

Halls’ images of Black equestrians, a queer Black sunbather, Black lifeguards, and surfers give me that Black-people-in-white-spaces feeling that something is out of place. I was wondering why the Black surfers’ penises had to be on display in Malibu (2024), but I just answered my question: I’m still thinking about it, so the work is working.