Troy Chew Lifts the Shroud
Individuals are a manifestation of their culture, both in the worlds they are a part of and the actions, thoughts and beliefs that they embody. The Los Angeles-based painter Troy Lamarr Chew II has painted his culture throughout his career in many ways - from visualizations of the vastly coded lexicon of his favorite hip-hop artists to the the kente clothes of his roots and visions of success in black culture. In his most recent body of work, an expansive series Chew calls The Invisible Man, he turns his brush inwards, representing the physical and psychological identities of both himself and the cherished people among him.
As seen by most visitors, Chew’s subjects are nameless and unidentifiable. Yet to Chew, they are family. Some are family in the strictest definition - there is a painting of his mother and one of a cousin. Others are chosen family - cherished mentors, collaborators, inspirations and friends. In one respect, Chew lifts a veil of invisibility by choosing to paint them - an office worker, a music producer, a houseless man, a factory worker. Yet to the viewer, these settings related to the workplace and labor define the subject - they are the only clue to provide context to the subject’s identity.
Troy Lamarr Chew II, Boutta work on this painting, 2024, Oil on canvas, 54 x 48 in and Troy Lamarr Chew II, Sweet Lullabies, 2024, Oil on canvas, 36 x 67 5/8 in. Images courtesy the artist and Altman Siegel.
Chew paints his subjects as if they were made of crystal clear water - completely translucent. In Sweet Lullabies, a recording artist’s face is defined by the vertical swatches of bold color of the software on his computer behind him, his forearm a deep red of the table below him. The vibrancy on the screen imbues his face, seemingly mid-verse, with the warmth and passion of the melody between his lips. The factory worker’s skin takes on a deep hue of the industrial surroundings behind him in The T-Shirt Pusher. While his face is rendered in a reduced palette of cold, industrial tones, the complicated form of the machinery behind his face creates a striking form, relaying the intrinsic connection between the ideas that originate in the mind and manifest thanks to industrial processes. Chew’s own face in his self-portrait entitled Boutta work on this painting, radiates the warmth of the sunset behind him, his fingers take the blue tone of the paintbrush in his hand. Each person’s skin is a unique form of invisible, as they take form through their surroundings, mirroring the colors of their environment and landscape. Since we cannot see them without these environmental cues, each person is defined by their labor.
In his unique depiction of skin tone, Chew enters a mature stage of portraiture. Each figure shares the defining characteristic of translucent skin, which removes a significant signifier in each person’s identity. Joining the ranks of artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Amy Sherald and countless others, Chew’s usage of environmentally influenced skin tone addresses the historic commission of black figures from figurative painting. While other features of some figures acknowledge racial identity through other markers, the concentration of identity and culture through one’s surroundings transcend race, depicting women and men who are black and white through the same lens.
Troy Lamarr Chew II, The T-shirt Pusher, 2024, Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in. and Troy Lamarr Chew II, Hold the blocc down, 2024, Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in. Image courtesy the artist and Altman Siegel
The representations of self, identity, and personhood in Chew’s paintings reverberate with authenticity. Chew paints from the heart, both in the earnestness of his practice and in his choice of subjects. The erudite painter passes his days in his home, where his entire house functions as the studio. Painting cherished connections of family, friends, collaborators and mentors, he skips any sketching phases and works directly on the canvas. While the audience sees each subject through their environment, Chew lifts the shroud of invisibility more powerfully, depicting the unseen with love.