“I title most of my paintings by word association. The first thought that passed through my mind when seeing this painting upon completion was ‘Shield.’ Although I prefer that my artworks remain ambiguous for viewers to establish their own relationship with a work, I do like the idea of an unwavering shield. One may see the black veil as the reference to a shield, however, I view the figure in the painting as the shield. Resilient and steadfast.”

American artist J Louis was born in 1992 in Karlsruhe, Germany, and earned his BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. He currently lives and works in New York City. Louis is best known for his oil paintings of female figures, focusing on the exquisite strength and alluring complexity of women juxtaposed with saturated color, flattened space, and texture. His technical painting skills, his eye for capturing an expression that portrays an intimate story, and his material experimentation are combined to create a dynamic harmony between emotion and design. He is fascinated with moments of human connection and that fascination exhibits itself in his work through cleverly posed subjects, use of texture, and color amid abstracted space.

The figures in his paintings are always in contemplative and often curiously surreal poses. They conceal and reveal the environment, dissecting it through perspective, gesture, and form. They act as guides through the painted space; their elongated anatomy highlights, divides, or unites the composition.