Gilbert Lewis, Swimmer (1984). Gouache on board. 63 3/4 x 44 inches. Courtesy Kapp Kapp, New York.
Gilbert Lewis, Tony (In Red Faux Fur) (1994). Gouache on paper. 11 x 9 inches. Courtesy Kapp Kapp, New York.
Gilbert Lewis, Untitled (Designer Jeans) (1982). Gouache on paper. 30 x 22 inches. Courtesy Kapp Kapp, New York.
Gilbert Lewis, Untitled (Wide Eyed Man) (1985). Gouache on paper. 22 x 17 1/2 inches. Courtesy Kapp Kapp, New York.
Founded by twin brothers Sam and Daniel Kapp, the eponymous gallery Kapp Kapp has deservedly earned its place on Manhattan’s Tribeca gallery scene.
First opened in Philadelphia in 2019 and now based in New York, the gallery has focused its curation on artists at the start of their careers, or those we’re keen to rediscover—but perhaps don’t know it yet.
Gilbert Lewis falls into the latter. Born in 1945 in Hampton, Virginia, Lewis has devoted his decades-long career to the study of the figure, with a particular focus on gay bodies and the gay experience.
Kapp Kapp’s solo presentation of Lewis’ Portraits 1979–2002 (14 January–25 February 2023) brilliantly eulogises the artist’s perceptive representation of the queer community, around the time its members were ravaged by the AIDS epidemic.
Swimmer (1984) is a particularly impressive work and Lewis’ largest to date. Loaned by the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York, the gouache painting expresses a tender and frank exchange with clarifying sensitivity.
Main image: Gilbert Lewis, Swimmer (1984). Gouache on board. 63 3/4 x 44 inches. Courtesy Kapp Kapp, New York.
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