“Once I developed my head, my quest was to develop my hand,” says McArthur Binion. “I wanted to make a brand new mark.”

In a special video interview, the veteran Chicago-based artist reflects on his debut exhibition at Gray. Binion, relating anecdotes from his childhood, explains his process of repurposing the minimalist grid to include personal items such as his address book, his birth certificate and images of the house where he was born. Such biographical elements constitute, he says, the ‘under conscious’ of the work, while a series of works on paper, the Under:Conscious Drawings, are a further exploration of “where the work comes from.”

Filmed at Gray Warehouse in Chicago, the artist, surrounded by his paintings and drawings, reflects on the importance of “a really specific space” to present this exhibition. “The work and the space are in love here,” he shares. “It’s a good marriage.”

Learn more about this special exhibition by visiting DNA:Work and the Under:Conscious Drawings, on Gray Viewing Rooms.