Join Kavi Gupta Friday, October 4th for the opening reception of Devan Shimoyama's solo exhibition, coinciding with extended hours for Chicago Exhibition Weekend, Powered by Gertie and EXPO Chicago. Stop by Kavi Gupta Washington Blvd. between 4-7 pm for drinks and music as we open Shimoyama's new solo presentation.
Extended hours take place on Friday evening of Chicago Exhibition Weekend, and features extended hours at over 50 galleries and creative spaces throughout the city of Chicago. No matter your background-whether you're an art aficionado or a newly minted collector-this is a great place to forge relationships with new galleries, artists and other collectors!
Kavi Gupta presents a solo exhibition featuring a selection of works from Devan Shimoyama’s visually scintillating practice.
Devan Shimoyama’s visually scintillating artworks stop people in their tracks. Clad in such finery as fur, feathers, glitter, rhinestones, and sequins, his paintings and sculptures emit a magical and joyous aura. Viewers easily enchanted by beautiful things might get lost in the shimmering artistry of Shimoyama’s expertly crafted cosmetic veils. Those whose eyes and minds are willing to travel beyond the surface subterfuge of glitter, flowers, and jewels gain precious entry into a complex world of mystery, introspection, rhapsody, and desire.
Shimoyama’s painting practice is rooted in explorations of his personal identity and experiences. Mobilizing mythology, spiritual traditions, and the compositional strategies of classical painters such as Francisco Goya and Caravaggio, he crafts heroic and sanguine depictions of the Black, queer, male body. Many of the men in Shimoyama's paintings literally have jewels in their eyes, endowing them with a tearful, mystified expression suggesting internal suffering.
Shimoyama has stated that he wants the figures in his work are perceived as "both desirable and desirous." He is aware of the politics of queer culture, and the ways in which those politics relate to Black American culture. These elements come together in his works in a way that is both celebratory and complicated.
