Shin Gallery is pleased to present Long Gone and Missing, an exhibition featuring the work of Brooklyn-based emerging artist Peyton Freiman.

Freiman’s art investigates the curious juncture between travel, modern-day conspiracy theories, and stoner culture. By transforming the gallery space at 322 Grand Street, New York into a veritable beach playground, Freiman invites visitors to explore the relationship between amusement and cultural identity. In the midst of summer fun and sunshine, there is a contrast to be found, as romanticized visions of bourgeois carousal exist in the shadow of overarching governmental collusion. His meditations on travel often employ an Orientalist aesthetic, a poignant reminder of the inevitable creation of the Other in our recreational expeditions.

Utilizing disparate mediums, including painting and collage, Freiman articulates his unique stance on contemporary culture. His canvases exude the informal attitudes of youth, embodying the privileged experience of leisure pursuits with a sarcastic thumbs-up. Underlying his works is Freiman's fundamental misgivings concerning his own place in a post-colonial, post-imperialist world on the verge of collapse.

Freiman touches on the feelings of disillusionment tied to institutional systems, articulated by frank references to government conspiracy: who was really behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy? What motivates the Federal Reserve? A layman’s perspective is explored with the usage of jejune colloquialisms and the depiction of frivolous detections. Still, the fundamental questions that lie at the heart of the work ring true for all: How much can we really know? Are we truly the masters of our own fate?

Though Freiman deals with pressing modern quandaries, his work is replete with art historical references. A debt to Paul Gauguin is clear in his depictions of the artist as romantic traveler and formally, there are allusions to Henri Matisse and David Hockney.

Yet the casual and conversational portrayal of leisure remains his own: Peyton’s work is an inimitable vision of an oddly inviting yet inhabitable world. Often working on a relatively large scale, his work articulates a distinctly American experience, comprised of West Coast colors and a familiar welcoming ambiance.

Peyton Freiman (b. 1983) was born in Memphis, Tennesse. He spent most of his adult life in Austin, Texas and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Freiman comes from a family of artists based in the South. His grandmother painted, his mother painted, taught art and collected art from regional artists based in the Deep South. From an early age, he was surrounded by the works that his parents collected; regional artists like Ted Faiers, Carroll Cloar, and Walter Anderson proved to be influential to his artistic development. His aesthetic is a canny combination of southern folk art, California skater culture, and Post-Impressionism.