Textured Patchworks of Sequins, Plastic Beads, and Oil Paint Comprise Trevon Latin’s Dazzling Portraits

“Untitled” (2021), oil on canvas, fabric stretched on panel, plastic beads, and barrettes, 50 1/4 x 58 1/2 x 4 inches. All images by Guillaume Ziccarelli, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin, shared with permission

Through a patchwork of glitzy sequins and humble cottons, New York-based artist Trevon Latin renders a fantastical world fit for an equally nuanced ensemble of characters. His mixed-media portraits and stuffed sculptures, which uniquely contrast color, texture, and medium in striking collaged pieces, draw their founding characteristics from queer nightlife, virtual reality, and mythology.

Having completed an MFA in painting and printmaking at Yale in 2020, Latin expands on his classical training by utilizing various found materials, including swatches of patterned fabric, multi-color beads, plastic barrettes, and sequins. His portraits center on spliced, abstracted figures stretched on a round frame or couples mid-embrace, with lush, rolling fields occupying the foreground. These green expanses evoke the landscapes of southeastern Texas, which the Houston-born artist and performer knows well, and offer a contrast to the otherwise ostentatious subjects.

The plush sculptures highlight the more mythical qualities of Latin’s practice, portraying shimmering hybrid characters elevated on pedestals. His 2021 work “I Break Too Easily” is similarly fantastical, featuring an aqua 3D-printed mask with long beaded tendrils hanging from its mouth. Whether depicted on canvas or as a fully-formed figure, each of the works is a flamboyant and elaborate embodiment of Shaturqua Relentless, a non-binary character the artist has performed in recent years. The resulting works reveal an inherent intimacy and idiosyncrasy, marking an entry point into an evolving narrative.

All of the pieces shown here are part of Trinket Eater, Latin’s first solo exhibition at Perrotin’s New York gallery. It’s on view through August 13. (via Hyperallergic)

Detail of “I Break Too Easily” (2021), 3D printed PLA mask, beads, barrettes, 52 x 36 x 36 inches

Left: “Perched” (2021), fabric, earrings, sequins, wood, 81 x 23 x 23 inches. Right: “Lil’ boi blu” (2021), fabric, glass, sequins, wood, 87 1/2 x 34 x 18 inches

Detail of “Untitled” (2021), oil on canvas, fabric stretched on panel, plastic beads, and barrettes, 50 1/4 x 58 1/2 x 4 inches

“Untitled” (2021), oil on canvas and fabric stretched on panel, 83 x 51 x 10 inches

Left: “Untitled” (2021), oil on canvas and fabric stretched on panel, 39 x 42 x 3 1/2 inches. Right: “Untitled” (2021),
oil on canvas and fabric stretched on panel, 53 x 36 1/4 x 11 inches