TRAVIS LOUIE
Curious Portraits
The mind of Travis Louie is one of brilliant, otherworldly eccentricity, creating whimsical oddities like swamp monsters, giant bugs, dragons and rabbits in suit jackets on smooth board. His artwork transports viewers to Louie’s imaginary world laced with the characteristics of the Edwardian and Victorian eras. From July 5 through 8, Louie will showcase his new body of work with Haven Gallery at the Market Art + Design contemporary art fair in Bridgehampton, New York.
This show is representative of a continuing conversation the artist says he’s been having with himself through the portraits of various characters he has created. Louie adds that his connection to the immigrant experience informs “the unusual circumstances that the subjects of my paintings deal with as they come to North America from the latter half of the 19th century into the 20th.” Many of Louie’s works depict the clothing and portrait styles of this bygone era, enlivened by his distinctive characters. In this new body of work, Louie explains that he created a series of portraits depicting immigrants at the turn of the 19th century—images that look like something one might find while browsing a flea market.
“I’m always fascinated by the clothes and often exaggerate certain fashions like hats festooned with taxidermy or garments that seem more like costumes. I think of visitors not just from obscure parts of Europe but from other worlds beyond our solar system,” Louie says. “All of these sorts of things are affected by the culture of their unique origins.”