Vertical Gallery is very proud to present ‘We From the Heavens,’ a solo showcase for Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based painter and illustrator Troy Lee.

‘We From the Heavens,’ which runs March 7-29 at Vertical’s flagship West Town location (2006 W. Chicago Ave. #1R; enter via the alley off Damen Ave.), heralds a daring new chapter in Lee’s career and creative evolution, shifting the artist’s emphasis from feminine sexuality to masculine vulnerability. The exhibit’s soul-baring paintings and sketches aggressively interrogate the perceptions and realities confronting Black men in contemporary America — how they’re seen in the media, and how they see themselves in the mirror. 

“My overall thing with this show is that I want to restore innocence to the Black body,” says Lee, who recently shed his longtime creative alias Troy Scat. “Most of my past work is centered around the celebration of women, but for this show, I decided to stir up conversations about men loving themselves — what's toxic masculinity, what's healthy masculinity, and what we can do to change these things.”

‘We From the Heavens’ embraces Black males of all ages, depicting some of them with wings; halo-like circles are another recurring motif. Many of the pieces draw inspiration from subtle but significant moments nestled deep within Lee’s favorite movies, television series, music videos and viral clips, a smorgasbord of sources stretching from the high school basketball dramedy Sunset Park to the bonkers science fiction saga The Fifth Element. 

“The characters I’m referencing often are seen as villains in their original context. But I'm taking them out of that context, and magnifying the poetry of moments a lot of people may have missed,” Lee explains. “Take [the 2012 found footage-style drama] Snow on tha Bluff. The protagonist is a drug dealer. A lot of people see him as a bad guy. But there is a scene where he plays with his kid, and ultimately, that kid is who he's doing all of this other stuff for. I wanted to highlight that, because it's something that resonated with me.” 

‘We From the Heavens’ follows a period of intense self-evaluation, guided in part by Lee’s immersion in the writings of theorist, educator and social critic bell hooks. “I recognized that I didn't show as much appreciation for myself as I claim to with women,” he says. “I think when it comes to fully appreciating anyone else, it starts with the self. I've learned to give myself some grace.” 

‘We From the Heavens’ also signals changes in Lee’s artistic mindset. “This is the time where I'm stepping out of my comfort zone as far as subject matter and as far as painting style,” he says. “Usually I'm very tight when it comes to my work. I'm a Libra, so aesthetics is very important to me, and I like to be in control when it comes to how something looks. But over the past year I've gotten a little bit looser, and focused more on getting the idea out, rather than having it look perfect. With this show, there's been a lot of letting go.”

‘We From the Heavens’ brings Lee back to Chicago five years after he left the city to live and work in southern California. The native South Sider drew incessantly throughout childhood, and at age 15 he signed up for a Little Black Pearl-sponsored after-school art program, studying under the tutelage of painter and muralist Hebru Brantley, a longtime mentor. Lee interned for Brantley while attending the Art Institute of Chicago, eventually dropping out to focus on his professional pursuits; a pair of local solo exhibits, ‘Gaze’ and ‘Peer,’ preceded his Vertical debut, the 2021 group show ‘#INK.’ Lee subsequently appeared at the Vertical Project Space location’s one-year anniversary group show, followed in 2022 by ‘#INK2’ and in 2024 by Vertical’s 11-year anniversary group show. 

Vertical Gallery launches ‘We From the Heavens’ Friday, March 7, with an opening reception from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.