Edited by Amely Deiss, Stadt Erlangen. Text by Amely Deiss, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Evan Moffitt, Adriano Sack.
A painterly kaleidoscope of Black queer life
Bright paint, sequins, rhinestones, fabric, feathers: the paintings of Pittsburgh-based artist Devan Shimoyama (born 1989) resemble midsummer night dreams of alternative masculinities. A graduate of the Yale School of Art, Shimoyama embraces the pain and joy of Black and queer life in psychedelic day-glo colors. The majority of his works depict Black men transposed into allegorical scenes from Greek mythology and tarot imagery (Shimoyama has stated that he wants the figures in his work to be perceived as "both desirable and desirous"); for example, Abduction of Ganymede depicts a figure resembling the artist swept up in the air by Zeus in the form of an eagle. The painting deploys Shimoyama’s signature materials: Ganymede’s eyes are rhinestones and costume jewelry, and the eagle’s wings are gilt. This lavishly designed catalog, produced for his first institutional solo exhibition in Europe, provides an excellent introduction to Shimoyama’s electrifying art.
"Sedusa" (2020) is reproduced from 'Devan Shimoyama: All the Rage.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
LitHub
Dan Graham
I was blown away by his vibrant and queer mythological paintings. You have to move quickly on this one because copies of this exhibition catalog (his first show is in Europe, come through America!) are getting harder to find.
in stock $55.00
Free Shipping
UPS GROUND IN THE CONTINENTAL U.S. FOR CONSUMER ONLINE ORDERS
Friday, April 8 through Sunday, April 10, join Artbook & MCA Chicago store for EXPO CHICAGO 2022, where we will be running a pop-up shop just inside the main entrance. Just look for the book store with custom Nick Cave wallpaper! In addition to a curated selection of hundreds of museum exhibition catalogs, art and photography monographs, and artist's books, our store will feature exclusive, limited edition artwork and apparel from Nick Cave, Faith Ringgold and Joshua Vides! continue to blog
"Dizzy Spell" (2019–2021) is reproduced from Devan Shimoyama: All the Rage, the first major monograph on the rising Pittsburgh-based artist and a staff favorite for LGBTQ+ Pride. Rhinestones, sequins and costume jewelry marry with day-glo pigments and magazine clippings in paintings that are as absolutely contemporary, Black and queer as they are psychedelic, celebratory and baroque. "The motif of Aquarius runs through Shimoyama's oeuvre, with all its interesting interweaving of cultures," Amely Deiss writes. "The 'Age of Aquarius' has long since ceased to be something that is longed for and invoked in wider circles—even if the idea of a society characterized by tolerance, freedom, equality and a willingness to share remains just as desirable today as it was in the 1970s and 1980s. In Shimoyama's images, however, this idea is suddenly realized. He makes it come true, this utopia: it is loud, quiet, radiant, serene. A foretaste of an ideal coexistence in a future 'now.' Heavenly bodies in neon pink." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.5 x 11 in. / 176 pgs / 90 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $55.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $75 ISBN: 9783775751698 PUBLISHER: Hatje Cantz AVAILABLE: 2/1/2022 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Hatje Cantz. Edited by Amely Deiss, Stadt Erlangen. Text by Amely Deiss, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Evan Moffitt, Adriano Sack.
A painterly kaleidoscope of Black queer life
Bright paint, sequins, rhinestones, fabric, feathers: the paintings of Pittsburgh-based artist Devan Shimoyama (born 1989) resemble midsummer night dreams of alternative masculinities. A graduate of the Yale School of Art, Shimoyama embraces the pain and joy of Black and queer life in psychedelic day-glo colors. The majority of his works depict Black men transposed into allegorical scenes from Greek mythology and tarot imagery (Shimoyama has stated that he wants the figures in his work to be perceived as "both desirable and desirous"); for example, Abduction of Ganymede depicts a figure resembling the artist swept up in the air by Zeus in the form of an eagle. The painting deploys Shimoyama’s signature materials: Ganymede’s eyes are rhinestones and costume jewelry, and the eagle’s wings are gilt.
This lavishly designed catalog, produced for his first institutional solo exhibition in Europe, provides an excellent introduction to Shimoyama’s electrifying art.
