Devan Shimoyama: KAVI GUPTA | WASHINGTON BLVD. FL. 1
Past exhibition
Overview
Devan Shimoyama. Artist: "I have a desire to put more black queer bodies or queer representation into the canon"
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.
Works
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Devan ShimoyamaFebruary, 2022Silk flowers, beads, and rhinestones on fabric50 x 75 x 10 in
127 x 190.5 x 25.4 cm -
Devan ShimoyamaBefore The Storm, 2022Timberland boots, rhinestones, silk flowers, epoxy resin and chain
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Devan ShimoyamaTamir VI, 2019Chains, silk flowers, rhinestones, beads, and fabric on swing seatDimensions variable
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Devan ShimoyamaAkasha, 2021Oil, colored pencil, glitter, acrylic, costume jewelry, rhinestones, and collage on canvas stretched over panel72 x 72 x 1.3 in
182.9 x 182.9 x 3.2 cm -
Devan ShimoyamaChakra Chart II, 2021Oil, Colored pencil, glitter, acrylic, rhinestones, and collage on canvas stretched over panel72 x 72 x 1 1/4 in
182.9 x 182.9 x 3.2 cm -
Devan ShimoyamaJas, Doubled, 2023Oil, color pencil, Flashe, rhinestones, acrylic, fabric, collage and glitter on canvas stretched over panel60 x 48 in.
152.4 x 121.9 cm -
Devan ShimoyamaVampira, 2021Oil, colored pencil, glitter, acrylic, rhinestones, and collage on canvas stretched over panel72 x 72 x 1 1/4 in
182.9 x 182.9 x 3.2 cm -
Devan ShimoyamaWinning Love By Daylight, 2022Oil, glitter, colored pencil, collage, jewelry, silk flower, Flashe, acrylic and embellishments on canvas84 x 68 x 2 in
213.4 x 172.7 x 5.1 cm -
Devan ShimoyamaSelf Portrait as Aaliyah, 2022oil, colored pencil, glitter, fabric, collage, jewelry, sequins, Flashe, acrylic and embellishments on canvas48 x 36 x 2 in
121.9 x 91.4 x 5.1 cm
