Troy Chew

STUNT 101

Troy Chew, Double Standard, 5' x 6', Oil on Canvas, 2017

Troy Chew, Bank Account, Unglazed Ceramic, 2017

Troy Chew, Two-Three, 2' x 4', Oil on Canvas, 2017

Troy Chew, Eliante, Swarovski Crystals, resin and chain, 2018

Troy Chew, Ask Paul Wall, 24" x 30", Oil on Canvas, 2019

Troy Chew

Stunt 101

“My neck stay blinging, my rims stay gleaming, I'm shining man I'll teach you how to stunt ”
- G-Unit (2003)

Whether it be the painter displaying virtuosic details and a handling of the medium, or a patron demanding an even more opulent commission than another, the history of western painting could be broken down to the simple act of stunting. In his latest exhibition, Stunt 101, Bay Area-based painter Troy Chew invites us into a world in which the tradition of the Dutch still-life and the imagery and attitudes of rap music share equal space.

Discarding with the cultural hierarchies of high and low, we enter into a more equitable universe that explores everything from the transatlantic slave trade, african textiles, and the larger african diaspora, to the artist’s unique Slanguage–a pictorial representation of the urban vernacular replete with veiled references and double meanings. Instead of the typically lavish display of fruits, seafood, flowers or game that populates this historical still-life style, Troy Chew instead imbues his deft oil paintings with a kind of striking honesty that speaks to the pain, glory and of course stunting that reverberates throughout urban communities across this country.