The Price of the Ticket
RICHARD LEWIS
Solo Exhibition at Saginaw Art Museum & Gardens
Opening Thursday, February 5th
On view through Saturday, April 25th, 2026
“The portraits in this exhibition meet you with a steadiness that invites reflection rather than spectacle. Richard Lewis builds each image around presence. A face, a posture, a moment of stillness. Nothing is exaggerated, yet everything feels charged. The compositions are direct, allowing each figure to hold their own space without interference. Portraiture here becomes a disciplined act of looking and being looked at.
Lewis’s approach grows out of a deep respect for the individuals he paints. He treats every subject as someone who carries experience, memory, and interior life. That respect shows in the clarity of each portrait. The viewer is offered no shortcuts and no distractions. You step into a quiet exchange where attention becomes a form of acknowledgment.
The Price of the Ticket is built around that exchange. These portraits ask what it means to see another person fully, and what it means to be seen in return. The work does not rely on grand gestures or heavy symbolism. Instead, it trusts the human face to communicate its own complexity. Each painting becomes a concentrated moment of recognition, a reminder that dignity often resides in the simple act of giving someone your full regard.”
- Saginaw Art Museum and Gardens
Opening reception February 5, 2026 5:30 - 7:30 pm
All Welcome. Registration requested but not required
RICHARD LEWIS
Photo: CJ Benninger
Richard Lewis was born in Detroit in 1966. He started drawing when he was four. When he was 10, his godmother told him to study his family and go into the next room and draw. That started him looking at faces. He graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1985. He earned his B.F.A. from College for Creative Studies and his Master’s degree from Yale School of Art. He came back to Detroit, drove a cab and taught African American art history. He was an artist-in-residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem. He moved back home to Detroit in 2002 and was a Kresge Artist Fellow in 2011.