Ashley Temple reviews an exhibition of paintings by Beverly McIver at Betty Cuningham Gallery, New York, on view through August 9, 2013.

Temple writes that the show focuses on "McIver’s self-portraits and paintings of her close friends and family. The show, as a whole, delineates the artist’s provocation with racial stereotypes and gender binaries. As an African American female artist, McIver uses her own face as a canvas, where she can uncover her true self—beyond the mask—in such a way that disentangles these norms of oppression and constant marginalization. We experience this existential journey with the artist through these double takes, fleeting bodies, and brazen clown faces."