P·P·O·W is honored to present an exhibition of Hunter Reynolds’ final self-portraits, opening October 29 from 11 - 6pm on the second floor of 390 Broadway. For many years, Reynolds actively fought an aggressive form of skin cancer with increasingly invasive surgeries that eventually resulted in the removal of his left eye. He recovered from his last operations while in isolation. Throughout, Reynolds painted eleven vibrant self-portraits that chart his emotional and spiritual progression, as well as his evolving physical form.

Reynolds’ entire artistic life engaged with the spiritual power and aesthetic potential of transformation, and he maintained this commitment in his final works. To the end, he was compelled to make art that distilled his pain and anger into honest, vulnerable documents of the determination required to survive. Along with the decades of trenchant, transgressive work he leaves behind, these self-portraits are a testament to a legacy of activism and self-exploration that continues to challenge taboos of beauty and identity beyond Reynolds' lifetime.

Hunter Reynolds was the recipient of many grants and residencies, including several Pollock Krasner awards. He had presented solo exhibitions at P·P·O·W, New York, NY; Hales Gallery, London, UK; Participant Inc., New York, NY; Artists Space, New York, NY; White Columns, New York, NY; Creative Time, New York, NY; and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA; among others. His work has been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY; the Hayward Gallery, London, UK; the FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; Aldrich Museum of Art, Ridgefield, CT; and DOCUMENTA, Kassel, Germany; among others. Public and private collections that house his work include The Chicago Art Institute, IL; Yale University Art Gallery, CT; and the Addison Gallery of American Art, MA. In 2017, New York University’s Fales Library and Special Collections acquired Hunter Reynolds’ archives for its Downtown Collection.