Portrait of Shannon T. Lewis, 2022. Photographed by Evan Jenkins. Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim

Ep.155 features Shannon T. Lewis (b. 1981 in Toronto, Canada; lives and works in Berlin, Germany). She is an artist of Caribbean descent who reconfigures human forms and the spaces they inhabit within her complex and vivid paintings. Lewis begins with assemblage — the forefront of her practice — utilizing fragments of form and space. Particularly inspired by social cues of ethnicity, whimsical aspects in the work evoke a notion of freedom by examining marginalized identities.

The use of architectural elements is a recurring element, oftentimes inspired by ornate iconography. Painted and interlaced limbs reconnoiter the history of femininity and its relation to Blackness. Lewis offers a window into freedom and body politics as the figurative compositions explore surrealism. Haunting portraits derived from archival and personal sources, Lewis imbues the past and the present to construct a utopian future.

Lewis has exhibited in Canada, the United States, Trinidad, Switzerland, England, and Germany. She has a Bachelor of Arts from OCADU in Toronto (Canada) and a Master of Fine Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London (UK).

Artist https://www.shannontamaralewis.com/

Mariane Ibrahim Gallery https://marianeibrahim.com/artists/60-shannon-t.-lewis/biography/

Elephant Art https://elephant.art/shannon-t-lewis-i-could-stare-at-it-for-20-years-20062022/

UTA Artist Space https://utaartistspace.com/artists/shannon-t-lewis/

NADA https://www.newartdealers.org/programs/in-the-studio-with-shannon-lewis

Galerie Magazine https://galeriemagazine.com/shannon-t-lewis/

Juxtapoz https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/magazine/features/shannon-t-lewis-a-performance-of-many-lifetimes/

Contemporary& https://contemporaryand.com/magazines/the-fantasy-of-aspiration-in-the-paintings-of-shannon-tamara-lewis/

Seals of the Habitual World, 2022
Oil on linen
Diptych
59 x 11 3/4 in
150 x 30 cm

59 x 39 3/8 in
150 x 100 cm
Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim

Testimony of Presence, 2022
Signed and dated to verso “S Lewis 22”
Oil on linen
31 1/2 x 31 1/2 in
80 x 80 cm

A Platform of Ambiguity, 2022
Signed and dated to verso “S Lewis 22”
Oil on linen
51 1/8 x 63 x 2 in
130 x 160 x 5 cm