painter samuel de saboia revels in ‘un-american beauty’

Brazilian painter Samuel De Saboia has been making a name for himself in his home country and at the more adventurous global galleries, by using abstraction to document the Afro-Brazilian queer experience and the extermination of marginalized groups. But with his new exhibit, “Un-American Beauty,” set for a limited run at the Los Angeles outpost of Ghost Gallery, the 21-year-old Recife-born, Sao Paulo-based artist fixes his gaze towards the U.S. “Who gets to belong? Who gets to be a real American?” asks De Saboia as as part of his artist statement, and Lord knows these are questions that have been plaguing Black and Brown citizens for years.   

Samuel De Saboia (photo: Cybelle Corwin)

“Un-American Beauty” is a chant dedicated to those bodies, and souls, which represent the best, yet are portrayed as embodiments of the worst. It’s a trip into Blackness, translated via various layers of creativity — a mix of 20 paintings, poems, and site-specific art — exploring today’s media and political landscapes. It offers a “norm” that challenges the conventional cis-white-male narrative, and an immersive experience, which introduces its viewer to a universe in which Black voices are heard instead of judged, and Black bodies are appreciated as opposed to fetishized.

Samule De Saboia’s “Un-American Beauty” will be on show at the Ghost Gallery, Los Angeles, through October 5th.

“Mae Pai Sandra e Eu”

“Lambanca”

“Youth in Danger” (mixed media on linen)

“Unamerican Beauty” (mixed media on linen)

“In Chaos There’s Harmony” (mixed media on linen)

“Queer Voids”