De Buck Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in EXPO CHICAGO 2025 returning to the Navy Pier’s Festival Hall with a presentation of six new works by Devan Shimoyama and nine new works by Gommaar Gilliams. De Buck Gallery will be at Booth #308.
Above is a selection of available work. Click below to inquire.
De Buck Gallery’s EXPO Chicago presentation sees the unveiling of Shimoyama’s Le Monde, a work from the artist’s recent Tarot series, which is inspired by traditional card decks and expands on the subset of cards in the deck known as the Major Arcana. Tarot readings and pop culture are prevalent in this series and are re-examined through the artist’s own experience. His unique and personal body of work challenges cliché with daring and personal representations of the complexities of race and sexuality. Working primarily in self-portraiture and narratives inspired by classical painters and mythology, Shimoyama seeks to depict the Black queer male body as something both desirable and desirous and his choice of materials endows the figures depicted with a magical and joyful spirit.
Pittsburgh-based artist Devan Shimoyama presents six new paintings from his Barbershop series, which transforms the masculine environment of the barbershop into a liberating queer fantasy portraying male archetypes that demonstrate softness, glamour, and joy. This selection features two unique handmade prints featuring an array of adult haircuts that were created at the time of the artist’s Barbershop Project in Washington, D.C.
Shimoyama’s current exhibition, Rituals, is on view at the Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University. Further recent major exhibitions of Shimoyama’s work include Untitled (For Tamir), a single work exhibition in 2023 at The Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY, USA; an exhibition in 2022 at the Akron Art Museum associated with the FRONT Triennial; Black Gentleman and Midnight Rumination, an exhibition at The Regional, co-organized by the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, USA; Elegies: Still Lifes in Contemporary Art, a group exhibition at the Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA; Garmenting: Costume as Contemporary Art, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY, USA; and All The Rage, Kunstpalais, Erlangen, Germany.
Belgian artist Gommaar Gilliams presents nine new narrative paintings. Storytelling is a perennial interest to the artist. “From primitive signs to heraldic symbols to contemporary logos, we always try to tell stories,” says Gilliams. “And what is important to me is the pictorial way of telling a story.”
Oscillating between abstraction and representation, Gilliams weaves colors and textures with both allegorical symbols, floral motifs, and human figures. He examines the way that humans search for and utilize repeated symbolic imagery throughout time periods and cultures, tapping into our shared desires and wonder for the natural world while also navigating the duality we experience. “We all have our dreams and hopes and ideals, but also our fear,” says Gilliams. “It’s not about canceling one of those two, but finding a balance between the two.”
Gommaar Gilliams was born in 1982 in Lier, Belgium. He has exhibited widely across Europe and in the United States, including The Cabin LA residency in Los Angeles. His work has won numerous national awards in Belgium including the Ernest Albert Grand Prize (Grote Prijs Ernest Albert) in Mechelen and the Prize of the City of Harelbeke (Prijs van de stad Harelbeke). His work is included in many private and public collections.
HOURS
VIP Preview
Thursday, April 24 | 12:00noon – 8:00pm
By Invitation Only
Opening Night of EXPO CHICAGO
Thursday, April 24 | 6:00–8:00pm
Limited Availability
Admission to Opening Night at EXPO CHICAGO grants ticket-holders exclusive first-look access alongside premier offerings and benefits. General admission tickets for EXPO CHICAGO are not valid for Opening Night.
General Admission
Friday, April 25 | 11:00am – 7:00pm
Saturday, April 26 | 11:00am – 7:00pm
Sunday, April 27 | 11:00am – 6:00pm
