Clouds disperse in wispy, pink-hued clusters against the setting sun of a blue-orange sky. Two brothers lean against a cold metal fence and each other for support. Bright colors roughly applied with sharp palette-knife strokes accent beaming skin. Their portrait, “I Feel Less Pressure, But I Have My Moments” (2024), is one of nineteen masterworks featured in Moon in Scorpio, Megan Lewis’ latest exhibition, on view at Galerie Myrtis.
Over the last decade, Lewis has worked to master her use of oil paint. Her paintings are passionate reflections of the beauty in Baltimore City. The models for her portraits are strangers, people she meets serendipitously while walking to and from her studio on North Avenue. The criteria for who draws her attention is wholly intuitive: something about the stance or eyes, a dark-hued complexion, or a confident swag that compels her to immortalize their likeness on canvas. She approaches their portraits with care. They are dreamy riffs, meta-ruminations that reflect Black lives in Baltimore City. Lewis advocates a queer aesthetic that subverts monolithic reflections of Black men that deem them selectively worthy of protection. Lost. Unloved. Criminal. She paints their beauty free from emasculation. Human and divine.
“I’m still not used to it,” Lewis shared. “It still gives me anxiety to this day, but it’s like, I’m choosing to step into that power every time. It is kind of a release because I have to be confident. It’s like, okay, you’re scared, but you got to do it. And I’ve done over 100 paintings. It’s like I have to conquer that fear. Regardless.”
“I’m still not used to it,” Lewis shared. “It still gives me anxiety to this day, but it’s like, I’m choosing to step into that power every time. It is kind of a release because I have to be confident. It’s like, okay, you’re scared, but you got to do it. And I’ve done over 100 paintings. It’s like I have to conquer that fear. Regardless.”
artist megan lewis
I first encountered her work in 2015 when she was working with youth on a mural in Sandtown. She was learning from local masters Ernest Shaw, Amy Sherald, and Gaia. Her paintings affirmed Black women on huge buildings, community centers, and the interiors of schools all over the city. Her limited-edition prints and jackets celebrated icons like Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, and Nina Simone and paid homage to James Baldwin, Ms. Hill, and Jay-Z.
Honoring excellence and beauty has long been foundational to her practice. Her father, Randolph Lewis, a retired carpenter, was a significant source of inspiration. By observing him, she gained greater confidence. Two hands and boundless imagination can build anything. Her furniture series, from 2019 to 2020, was innovative. Like the late visionary Tom Miller, she appropriated discarded items, including benches, mirrors, and coffee tables, and transformed them into functional works of art.
Lewis has become a painter’s painter. Moon in Scorpio evidences the hard work she has poured into her practice over the last decade.
Lewis has become a painter’s painter. Moon in Scorpio evidences the hard work she has poured into her practice over the last decade.
“I need constant change. I need to feel like I’m constantly growing,“ Lewis said.
“I need constant change. I need to feel like I’m constantly growing,” Lewis said.
The painting “Inexpressible” (2024) depicts a young man standing in front of the historic Macedonia Baptist Church cathedral in Upton. He has praying hands and physics-defying locs. The painting honors the legacy of Lewis’ grandmother, who was a devout member of Macedonia’s congregation. After her passing, painting helped Lewis cope with grief. Channeling her emotions into restorative reflections helped her heal. She could have crumbled under the pressure of it all. Instead, she blossomed.
“I’m not a jump-and-grow-wings-on-the-way-down kind of girl,” Lewis laughed. “So painting is that structure. I’m here, man; I’m gonna make mistakes. And that’s just what it is. You have to sit in it. Once you do it, that’s the thing, that’s the beauty. Like, I make work for me. There’s love in it.”
“Moon in Scorpio” (2024) is an oil-on-fabric painting that inspired the show’s title and exemplifies this spirit. The woman it portrays is more water than flesh, neck-deep in thunderous waves and big emotions. The fearlessness in her eyes affirms that she won’t drown. Her chest is swollen with billowing waves but she does not avert her gaze. Her likeness is a triumphant testimony for Lewis and all women. As Lucille Clifton declared,
[…] come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.
“[‘Moon in Scorpio’] is a document. It’s a storm. It’s cool on the outside and hectic on the inside,” Lewis continued. “I don’t like to talk about how I feel. [I’m a] Capricorn, but my moon is in Scorpio. It’s like, no, wait a minute. Let’s go deeper. Be ready to do how you feel. Like, are you open? Will you express yourself easily when you’re ready to flip?”
“I Am Honored To Have Done Good By My Broken Heart” (2024), oil on stretched fabric, honors the beauty of the brothers, the young fathers, and everyday good men in Baltimore City with the portrait of a king crowned with a blue durag. He postures in a spectra-floral landscape, hand clenched into a fist at the center of his heart. The tattoos on the back of his hand wind like the stems of the flowers that bloom in the firmament behind him. His defiance echoes in the likeness of every portrait in the exhibition.
Lewis enunciates the unabashed beauty of her models. The titles of her paintings are as poetic as the compositions of her portraits. I asked her what inspired this series at this time in her career.
“Just the evolution of where I am: heartbreak, love, you know … I’m growing, evolving, I’m experiencing different things, so the work is going to fluctuate. I was just documenting how I feel because if I don’t, then I’ll explode,” she said. “This is definitely more personal, and it’s just the beginning. It’s a small step into me diving deeper and getting more honest. I’m excited to see how I grow, how I incorporate everything that I’ve learned into the next series.”
Moon in Scorpio is on view at Galerie Myrtis until July 20. Artist talk with Megan Lewis and Dr. Myrtis Bedolla on July 20, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 2224 North Charles Street. Registration link on galeriemyrtis.net.