If These Hands Could Talk
Eighteen is pleased to present:
If These Hands Could Talk
A solo exhibition by Devin Troy Strother
OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 29. 2023. TIME: 16.00 - 21.00
EXHIBITION PERIOD: SEPTEMBER 30 – NOVEMBER 11. 2023
Eighteen is pleased to present If These Hands Could Talk, an expansive solo exhibition by Devin Troy Strother.
”The works in this exhibition have a double meaning as they examine the experience of a black artist producing work about themself, while they also examine the art world’s current obsession of collecting works that revolve around the black body and black portraiture.
Since the very beginning of my practice, my work has revolved around using the black body as a vehicle to explore various subject matter that is commonly surveyed by other artists. These subjects were explored through techniques such as collage, sculpture, and performance. As a result of doing this over time, my present-day practice began to transform into further questioning of what my intent is as an artist.
By investigating other artists with similar paths such as Phillip Guston, Joan Brown, and Bob Thompson, it allowed me a newer space of freedom to move away from an identity that I had previously established and had been commonly recognized for. Embarking on this new path endorsed a relationship with image making that I find more historically traditional yet challenging. This allowed me to reflect on the experiences of other artists while reflecting back on my own experience as I mature as an artist. I realize the only constant is change and how we adapt to it. As a result this body of work is a consistent examination of myself and what I am contributing to this ever expanding canon of art history.
The title of this exhibition focuses on the last 15 years of working as a full-time artist and all that has coincided with that dedication and time. In conclusion, in the words of a close friend named Georgio Allen, “I’ve seen some shit”.”
- Devin Troy Strother, Los Angeles, 2023
Devin Troy Strother (b. 1986, West Covina, USA) lives and works in Los Angeles, USA. Recent solo exhibitions include: The Black Man Inside, Broadway Gallery, New York, USA (2023), Painting type shit, Ruttkowski68, Cologne, Germany (2022), Durag activities, Over The Influence, Bangkok, Thailand (2022), Undercover Brother, The Pit, Los Angeles, USA (2021), Smoking and Painting, Broadway Gallery, New York, USA (2021), I’m just a painter all I got is paint and maybe a lil bit of hope, Eighteen, Copenhagen, Denmark (2020-21), Lignes Noir, Ruttkowski68, Paris, France (2019), Twinkle Toes, Nevven Gallery, Gothenburg, Sweden (2019) Flagrant Foul, Over The Influence, Central Hong Kong (2019), and Wade In The Water, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2019). If These Hands Could Talk is his third solo exhibition with Eighteen & V1 Gallery.
