I’m Beginning To See The Light

Christopher Garrett, Peter Gray Hurley, Chuck Webster, Chris Johanson, Morgan Blair, Alicia McCarthy, Matthew Craven

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 23rd, from 6-9 PM.

Exhibition Dates: May 23rd - June 20th

GGLA is proud to present I’m Beginning to See The Light, a solo exhibition by Brooklyn-based artist Christopher Garrett’s, and the artist’s first exhibition with the gallery. Revolving around a series of paintings on canvas utilizing acrylic, gouache, watercolor and pencil, depicting cityscapes bisected and complicated by mazes, Garrett’s paintings are meditations on our built environment, free will and the perils and thrills of the journey. 

Reflecting on the advent of Mapquest, the website that killed off the printed road atlas and preceded the behemoth that is Google Maps; Garrett remembers a time in 1999 when he followed printed out directions that were supposed to lead him to a job in the Santa Cruz mountains. One turn led onto an unassuming dirt road that became narrower and more agonizing by the minute. Without adequate space to turn back, the artist was forced to continue on, crossing small wooden bridges and displacing mountain bikers as he went, finally arriving at a real road only to realize that the shortcut the map had promised was hardly that. In a similar way, the works within I’m Beginning to See the Light reflect on this quandary that Garrett found himself in deep amidst the mountains of Santa Cruz–the journeys we take spatially, emotionally and spiritually are never as direct as they might seem at first, and where we end up might be far less spectacular than the strange and harrowing journey that led to our desired or inevitable destination. 

Garrett’s paintings present as cityscapes, largely barren and quiet, with tall buildings stretching vertically framing mazes that lead from one street to the next. Occasionally these mazes are crumbling and gated, in others, walls lined with pink or red bricks usher the viewer in only to obfuscate and slow progress with dead ends and impossible corridors. Yet the perspective that Garrett provides within these paintings gives enough elevation to which viewers are able to see over the maze to what lies beyond. Yet the escape from the maze is far from spectacular and is just as mundane as the street that preceded it, and thus we find our eyes drifting back into the confusion that is the maze, tracing and retracing our paths, blocked by dead ends, and roundabout journeys until we find some resolution. Garrett’s paintings muse on the immovability of architecture and infrastructure, with all the ways in which they usher, impose and ultimately control the flow of our lives. In the face of the built environment and capitalism at large, true free will is merely an illusion, leaving us to decide if we press on or backtrack and retrace our steps. 

Surrounded by paintings of mazes on the walls, and columns that support the gallery’s ceiling, the exhibition space begins to feel like a bit of a labyrinth itself, leading the viewer to the gallery’s back room in which Garrett is accompanied by a group exhibition of works by friends including Morgan Blair, Matthew Craven, Peter Gray Hurley, Alicia McCarthy, Chris Johanson and Chuck Webster. The works on the walls radiate a loose and colorful warmth that feels like a hug, a needed reminder that if there is any solace to be yearned for as we weave through our own meandering chosen and predetermined paths, it's the individuals and communities that surround, support and care for us.

Christopher Garrett, Blotter Paper Blues, 2026, Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and pencil, 16 x 17 in.

Christopher Garrett, A Quivering Even-Keeled White Noise Machine Walkabout (Sol Lewitt Gate), 2026, Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and pencil, 20 x 18 in.

Christopher Garrett, Auditions Held For A Slippery Slope, 2026, Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and pencil, 19 x 18 in.

Christopher Garrett, Many Mountains Are Now Molehills, 2026, Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and pencil, 34 x 34 in.

Christopher Garrett, All The Ants In The World, 2026, Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and pencil, 25 x 17 in.

Christopher Garrett, after “Two Songs” 1973/1974 off of ‘The Pavilion Of Dreams” by Harold Budd 1978 on Obscure Records Ltd, 2026, Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and pencil, 27 x 22 in.

Morgan Blair, The title of this painting is the name of your first pet + your olive garden order + your pin number + your favorite pjornhub category, 2025, Acrylic on paper pulp over canvas, 30 x 24 in.

Chris Johanson, momentary, With, 2024, acrylic and household paint on paper, 19 x 25 in. , Framed 22 x 28 in.

Alicia McCarthy, Untitled, 2020, House paint, gouache, flashe, & spray paint on wood panel, 48 x 48 in.

Christopher Garrett, UNTITLED/ “IT LOOKS LIKE THE SURFACE OF THE SPACE OF ANALYSIS, BUT YOU SUSPECT IT IS TIME, BECAUSE YOUR FEELING IS CHANGING”, 2018,

Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and pencil, 72 x 60 in.

Matthew Craven, glance, 2025, Ink on Found Paper, 15 x 12 in.

Peter Gray Hurley, Untitled, 2026, Oil on Canvas, 14 x 11 in.

Peter Gray Hurley, Untitled, 2026, Oil on Canvas, 9 x 11 in.

Chuck Webster, Fossil , 2009, Oil on Panel, 11 x 14 in.