Spencer Lewis

"Sits

In the corner

If it’s free

The sofa

With no one else on it

The empty spot

In the least crowded space

Somewhere he can simply and quietly be

Safely

Be

Safely be.

He smiles

More often than not

In his space

Safely being

Exudes

Warmth, kindness, generosity

A spirit of friendship

Love

Like Pooh Bear

Or Kung Fu Panda

Safely being

Everyone’s great pal

Everyone’s hug.

And yet.

And yet.

And yet.

And motherfucking yet

In that space

And in his peace and his love

In his every smile

Laugh

Gentle hand and sparkling eye

In every gesture

There is weight

Weight of his years

His history

His life

Weight of his heart

Mind

Spirit

Soul

Weight of trauma pain rage.

Trauma

Pain

Rage

Weight

And in that weight

There is violence

Brutal straightforward aggressive deliberate shameless violence.

So many things exist

Beyond words

Love

God

Truth

Fear

Whatever we have

Doesn’t get close

And so

The wise and the gifted and the beautiful and the foolhardy

Seek other methods

Gestures

Sound

Movement

Paint

And from the many things that exist

Beyond

Comes comes comes.

Sweet Man

Kind Man

Beautiful Man

Brutal straightforward aggressive deliberate shameless violent

Man

Love

God

Truth

Fear

Violence

Heart

Mind

Spirit

Soul

Violence."

—James Frey

Spencer Lewis (b. 1979, Hartford, CT) received a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 2002, and an MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2008. Lewis’s work has been the subject of numerous solo presentations at venues including Fundación La Nave Salinas, Ibiza (2025); Massimo De Carlo, Paris, Milan and Hong Kong (2025, 2023 and 2022); Harper’s, New York and East Hampton (2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2017); Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna (2024 and 2022); Vito Schnabel Gallery, New York and St. Moritz (2023, 2022 and 2021); Josh Lilley, London (2022); Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels (2021); and Canada, New York (2021). Most recently, he has participated in group exhibitions at Massimo De Carlo, London and Milan (2025 and 2022); National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC (2024); The Ranch, Montauk (2023); K11 Museum, Hong Kong (2023); Metropolitan Museum of Manila, PH (2023); Harper’s, Los Angeles and East Hampton (2022, 2021, 2020, and 2018); and WOAW Gallery, Hong Kong (2022). His work has been acquired by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; Museu Inimá de Paula, Belo Horizonte, BR; and National Museum of African American History and Culture, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Lewis lives and works in Los Angeles.