Spencer Lewis

b. Hartford, CT, 1979; lives and works Los Angeles, CA

Spencer Lewis paints gestural paintings on cardboard and jute, composing amalgamations of sweeping lines and smears which convey kineticism and motion and evoke the moment of creation. His paintings are built up through layers of paint, often applied thickly or scratched away to reveal earlier layers, creating a sense of depth and history within the work. This layering process results in highly textured surfaces that emphasize the materiality of the paint itself.

Lewis completed his MFA at the University of California Los Angeles in 2008, following his BFA at the Rhode Island School of Design. His work is held in the collections of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; the Museu Inimá de Paula, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; and the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, among others.