L.L. Contemporary is pleased to present ‘Deer.ly’, Amir Shingray’s first exhibition with the gallery. The exhibition showcases the artist’s 6 paintings and 5 works on paper, that were created during the early days of Covid lockdown. At that time, the artist wanted to find out where everything was heading, as the question of whether humans have damaged this planet beyond repair was out there for everyone to see. While walking mostly in less populated areas around the city, he encountered many wild animals, particularly deer, some of which later could almost recognize him and ignore his presence. These encounters took Shingray back to his early childhood with the African antelopes. He lived by the White Nile, where the antelopes were never aloof and willing to nod to you as one walked away, just like the deer in Ontario during Covid. These experiences let the artist pander the human condition, as we homo sapiens, driven by profit, ransacked the planet, and then create a sequence of works.

Born in Sudan, then moved to Turkey, Amir Shingray lives and works in Toronto now. He holds an BA at Bogazici University, Turkey, where he worked at Prof. Gregg Wolf studio. Many of Shingray’s works swirl in the spaces between abstraction and representation. The viewer of his work will be conscious of a constant buffeting from despair to hope, from a celebration of beauty to an exploration of the human capacity for inferno. Whatever the specific subject is, his sweeping gestures, bold lines, and melding of color give birth to integrated wholes that seem to embody the movement of life itself. Shingray’s work has been presented in multiple solo and group exhibitions, including at French Cultural Centre Art Gallery in Turkey, Craig Scott Gallery in Toronto and Galeriastist Lab in Istanbul. In 2022, he was invited to join the Commegena Biennial held in Adyiman, Turkey. His work is collected internationally in Canada, Europe and Africa.