Travis Louie - “Whimsies”

June 8th - 29th 2024

Opening night reception Saturday June 8th 6-8pm

Travis Louie’s paintings come from the tiny little drawings and many writings in his journals, the stories he writes often inspiring the beings that later become paintings. He has created his own singular imaginary world that is grounded in Victorian and Edwardian times, rendered in monochrome to evoke formal Victorian dagguerotypes. This world is inhabited by human oddities, mythical beings, amusing cryptids, and other otherworldly characters who appear to have had their formal portraits taken to mark their existence. The underlying thread that connects all these characters is the unusual circumstances that shape who they were and how they lived.

Using acrylic paint washes and simple textures on smooth boards, he has created portraits from an alternative universe. His work is about identity and remembrance, with occasional veiled commentary on racism and the immigrant experience. He would like the fear of "the other" to be replaced with a curiosity about the unknown and a sense of wonder regarding those things that are unfamiliar.

For this show, Travis takes a lighthearted approach, creating simple portraits and amusing stories intended to evoke a joyful whimsy.

Please just contact us to get larger images , detail images, or a video walk around of a piece! All works are framed by the artist in an ornate black frame. See framed examples at bottom of page.

Travis Louie Squid Talk acrylic on board 8” x 10” SOLD (framed in ornate black frame)

Having grown up near Freeport, New York, I was always around fish markets. When I was a kid, I saw a display of freshly caught squid packed in ice. The fishmonger noticed me looking closely at the details of the squid and began explaining to me his fondness for them and how smart he thought they were. I imagined them having the intelligence required to have conversations like office workers at the water cooler. Perhaps they spread gossip or told scary stories to each other. What if they told each other about their hopes and dreams? Did they talk about the other 700 or so species of cephalopods that inhabit the oceans? What did they think about Cuttlefish or their big brothers, the Giant Squid? 

Travis Louie Stray acrylic on board 8” x 10” SOLD (framed in ornate black frame)

 Dreamland's Hell Gate exhibit featured two "demon dogs" who pranced in a complicated series of choreographed moves that mesmerized the audience. One of the dogs was a stray puppy found at the Sunnyside train yard in Queens who had an unusual look that required no additional makeup or costuming.  He was found in a cardboard box. The people who found him claimed that they could sense his friendly demeanor upon seeing his larger eye peering out of the single breathing hole on the side of the box.  

Travis Louie Vampy the Vampire acrylic on board 8” x 10” SOLD (framed in ornate black frame)

At the end of a long hot Summer in 1959, Veronica Miller was not looking forward to going back to middle school. She spent most of the Summer evenings at the local movie house watching The House on Haunted Hill or hanging out in the graveyard by her house. Her family didn't approve of her constantly avoiding the "normals," people who didn't understand her fascination with the macabre and most things otherworldly. On the last Friday night before September, she came home from the movies to find that her family redecorated her room while she was out. They removed all her horror decor, all her books, and her beloved Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. She angrily ran out the front door and into the night. She sprinted toward the cemetery. She ran in a circle around the mausoleums and gravestones. She ran faster and faster until she suddenly lifted off the ground. In midflight, she transformed into a bat and thought to herself, "This explains everything." 

Travis Louie Sam the Salamander acrylic on board 10”x8” $2800 (framed in ornate black frame)

Sam was part axolotl and part tiger salamander. He was captured in 1895 near the Cape Fear River in North Carolina and was the longest-living amphibian in captivity. He was housed at the New York Aquarium from 1896 until 1957 when he escaped while they were moving the aquarium from its Battery Park location to Brooklyn. He was famous for greeting visitors during feeding time. After eating his daily "nightcrawler," he gestured to the onlookers as he held both of his arms up as if to say, "I caught a worm, and it was this big."

Travis Louie Hippo For Hire acrylic on board 8” x 10” $2800 (framed in ornate black frame)

On a hot Summer day in Staatsburg, New York, a medium-sized Hippo began making his rounds, . . .going door to door offering his services. He introduced himself as Hugo and without mentioning what he was capable of actually doing, he simply asked to be employed. He ended up doing the most unusual odd jobs that Summer; he tampered down paving stones, weighted down helium balloons at a party, spent a week amusing some cats, and delivered singing telegrams wearing a ballerina's outfit. He became known as "Odd-Job Hugo" the handy Hippo. When the Summer was over, he took his earnings and had an inground pool installed on his property.   

Travis Louie Fred “Toothy” Hanson acrylic on board 8” x 10” SOLD (framed in ornate black frame)

Fred "Toothy" Hanson was first sighted in a bar at the World's Fair in 1939 in Flushing, New York. He walked freely amongst the fair visitors as he was thought to be an actor in a remarkably realistic full-body costume. After more than a few drinks with future Tarzan and former Olympian, Johnny Weissmuller, he was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct as he attempted to participate in  Billy Rose's Aquacade show.  He escaped his holding cell by chewing through the metal bars and disappeared into the crowd.  

A much taller and very intoxicated Fred reappeared in 1948 at a Florida Gators Baseball game. His 6 ft, 9-inch frame swayed back and forth as he tried to pass himself off as their new mascot, "Toothy." After being chased away by security, he was hired by filmmakers to portray the "monster" in a low-budget drive-in feature called Night of the Soggy Creep(1953) 

He wasn't heard from again until 1977 when he was sighted at Yankee Stadium during a playoff game against the Kansas City Royals.   

Travis Louie Seaweed Boy acrylic on board 8” x 10” SOLD (framed in ornate black frame)

 Billy Carnaghan was told to stay clear of the rocky shore at night during the fall. His family believed that a faerie called the Seaweed Boy would switch places with any child that strayed too far from the line of sight. The faerie would pretend to be the child until adulthood set in and then trade places again, having lived out the person's childhood. 

Travis Louie Garden Fuzz acrylic on board 8” x 10” SOLD (framed in ornate black frame)

In Pine Plains, New York there is a local myth concerning a gnome-like entity that appears in the Spring. It arrives with the first sightings of honey bees and aggressively pollinates everything. The fuzzy layers of pollen that it left behind would glow in the dark like St Elmo's Fire. People with allergies would suffer but the gardens would flourish in an otherworldly manner. 

Travis Louie Paul the Jackalope acrylic on board 8” x 10” SOLD (framed in ornate black frame)

In the 1880s, Paul the Jackalope began selling liquid cure-alls and mood-altering garments. The medicines actually worked for the most part but required strict adherence to the instructions for their use.  At first, it was difficult to explain the special instructions on the dosage and usage of the products. People who did not follow them closely either complained that the products were fake or that they were "too potent." Some suffered ridiculous side effects, like odd skin coloration and aggressive hair growth.  A man in Albeline whose child was born hairless used too much of the hair tonic and his boy grew hair all over his body; including spaces between his toes and his teeth. After being chased out of several towns, Paul was forced to hire henchmen to keep him safe. He grew tired of the grind of upgrading the showmanship aspect of sales and finally gave up the business after seeing a competitor wow the crowd at the Chicago Exposition of 1893 by using live vivisection to demonstrate his cure-alls. 

Travis Louie The Hunchback of Maple St acrylic on board 8” x 10” $2800 (framed in ornate black frame)

Charles Bavis was billed as "Bavis The Hunchback". He was described as an actor who was cursed by an organ grinder's monkey during an intermission between the first and second acts of a Richard III performance at Luna Park in 1910. Overnight, his body was said to have become covered in hair and his hunchback from the play became a permanent affliction.

In reality, Charles was a kind man born with his furry body, "bumpy face," and spinal "overgrowth." To train for his sideshow appearances, he balanced an egg on his furry hump during his off hours at his home on Maple St in Brooklyn.

Frame examples: