Lehmann Maupin is pleased to present The Body Shimmer, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Dominic Chambers and the artist’s first solo presentation in Korea. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Chambers is a painter and a writer who creates vibrant paintings that engage both art historical models and contemporary concerns surrounding race, identity, and the need for leisure and reflection. This exhibition serves as the visual counterpart to the fourth chapter of the artist’s ongoing anthology series, The Color of Heaven, which chronicles the meditations and influences that inform Chambers’ artistic trajectory. In tandem with the Seoul exhibition, Chambers also presents a collection of essays and poems that further articulate the ideas informing this new body of work, foregrounding the inextricable connection between painting and literary expression.

Chambers’ work draws on literature, mythology, magical realism, and African American history to construct contemplative and poetic scenes that challenge reductive narratives surrounding Black life. His compositions frequently depict figures in moments of leisure, introspection, and communion with nature, proposing imaginative spaces where joy, stillness, and interiority take precedence over spectacle or conflict. Literary and philosophical texts serve as a vital source of inspiration for the artist, who has long drawn from writers and thinkers such as the Roman philosopher Seneca, who described leisure as an investment in one’s inner life, and the American poet Mary Oliver, whose work celebrates attentive observation of the natural world. Literary traditions such as magical realism lie at the heart of his exploration of race, personal and imagined narratives, and the complexities of interior life, informing his interest in poetry as a bridge between the natural and the surreal.

In a new body of work entitled The Body Shimmer, Chambers continues his exploration of Black life, surrealism, and the poetics of leisure while deepening his belief in painting as a medium capable of materializing poetry. The series was inspired by the scientific discovery that the human body emits an extremely faint bioluminescent light—an imperceptible glow produced through metabolic processes. This revelation led him to reflect on another cosmic fact: most of the elements in the human body were forged in stars and supernovae billions of years ago. Framing humans as “earthbound stars,” he ponders upon how communities might be understood as constellations.

Alongside the artist’s rich literary inspirations, color emerges as a central protagonist in Chambers’ paintings. In selecting his palette especially for this body of work, the artist considered the material qualities of color—its mineral associations and varying degrees of opacity. Graphite Gray, Iridescent Pewter and Silver, Cobalt Yellow, and a range of luminous yellows were among the hues Chambers found particularly compelling. Carefully orchestrated relationships between these contrasting and shimmering tones generate subtle energy and psychological resonance across the canvas. These chromatic tensions animate otherwise tranquil scenes, imbuing the works with a quietly electric presence. Through luminous surfaces, the bodies that encapsulate this subtle “shimmer” unfold as a poetic meditation on the body, the cosmos, and collective existence.