Wade Schaming

Keys to the Kingdom

October 19-November 12, 2022

Opening: October 19, 6-8pm

In his first New York solo exhibition, Wade Schaming lets us into a reimagined world, meticulously built by a consistent and thoughtful artistic practice. Through these recent drawings and sculptures, the multidisciplinary artist presents an alternative order to the ever increasing chaos around us. At first glance, the work is pleasing to the eye, meditative with a familiar formalist aesthetic. However, Schaming invites us with these pleasing shapes and color combinations to come closer and take a second look. When we do, we find his creations are from an entirely different reality, one of radical inclusiveness. 

What would our iconography look like if queerness was celebrated throughout history? What would the skylines of our cities look like? Schaming seems to be answering these questions every time he makes a mark on paper or assembles the discarded objects from our harsh reality. His drawings are organic and though they evoke the grids of our metropolises, they seem to be created from nature and not despite it. The sculptures are delicately balanced, quirky altar pieces which embrace the contradictions of faith and idol worship rather than pander to an elite few. Both mediums in Schamings practice inform each other and aid in this playful world building that seems to be at the heart of his art making. 

Wade Schaming studied at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, PA, the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (BA 2006) and the School of Visual Arts, New York, NY (MFA 2010). His work has been exhibited throughout the United States, including at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, Field Projects, New York, NY, The Museum of Human Achievement, Austin, TX and Primary Projects, Miami, FL. He has been profiled and interviewed by Paper Magazine, International Sculpture Center and The New York Times. Residency awards include the Keyholder Residency at the Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY (2015), Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY (2016), Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, Ithaca, NY (2017) and The Edward F. Albee Foundation, Montauk, NY (2017). He lives in New York City.