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Woman of Paradise, Kyng Rhodes |
...And There Was Light.
Kyng Rhodes, an Indianapolis-based artist and independent curator, has two major exhibits on display this summer at premier art locations in the city. First, in a solo exhibit of his own paintings and other works, Let There Be Light, at Gallery 924, and also as organizer of the group show of artists, The Source, at Newfields.
Both shows display a vibrant intensity, a celebration of color, culture and individual vision.
His own paintings and works on paper in the 924 show are influenced by the Book of Genesis and a plea from its earliest page, indeed its earliest lines – Let there be light.
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Let There Be Light, Kyng Rhodes, detail of exhibit at Gallery 924 |
Rhodes' artist statement that accompanies the show cites his thoughts, experiences and dreams as the compelling influences for his art. Of particular importance is the concept of divine light which indeed is present as a central design element in most of the artworks in his show.
Many works each contain a golden ray of light from the heavenward top of the picture down to contain the people portrayed below. Like halos were used by religious painters in bygone art eras to depict the holiness of the subject and the sanctity of the activity contained, Kyng Rhodes uses the flash of divine light. He portrays a widening beam cascading down, as a similar unmistakable and recurring symbol – the power of a light almighty.
A powerful light to reveal, to enlighten, to transform. A healing power brighter than the noonday sun in the darkest night.
With the Light, Flowers Grow.
In the painting Flowers Grow Here Too, 2021, Rhodes has painted a man and three children. The man's head is entirely contained in the shaft of light creating a striking profile portrait. The contrast of his profile, looking away as if troubled by thoughts or somehow distracted, while the children are gathered in front of him looking forward with the innocence on their smiling faces.
The light embraces them all in its ever-widening reach, perhaps comfort enough, but there is more reason for optimism in the picture. It is enhanced with Rhode's allusion to an Eden-like promised land of flowers. We see the motif in many of his works.
A multitude of flowers surround the figures on both sides and at the bottom. And all the children, too, have crowns of flowers around their heads. In this picture, the garlands around the minds of the children seem to represent the spring of a carefree youth. Idealized perhaps, a portrayal of happy times and the pure, boundless potential within each child.
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Flowers Grow Here Too, Kyng Rhodes |
A garden of perfection is also depicted in Woman of Paradise, 2022 (image at top of page). Here though, not only flowers but other beautiful creatures – a pink swan, a butterfly, a humming bird, parrots, and the woman herself.
The divine light beam is focused atop the woman's head and sits juxtaposed to appear as if part of an elaborate headdress of gold embroidery, peacock feathers and a brim of flowers. A soaring idyllic creative force seems imagined in this picture.
Bees in the Trap, 2021, is more mysterious in its symbolism. Three bees, with wings the color of Rhodes' recurring divine light, are surrounded by the exuberant, flowered foliage bordering the picture.
That the bees are stuck seems implied by the title of the piece. Indeed one bee in particular, seems tangled in a strip of red ribbon. The flowers promised nectar, but was the promise broken by a trap of temptation? The blossoms seem to have retracted at the last moment to reveal the stripes and glue of deceit.
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Bees in the Trap, Kyng Rhodes |
And another symbolic narrative piece, told in a parable of painted iconic objects, is Hold Your Peace, 2025.
The light beam in the picture is more a spotlight, of a slight greenish hue rather than gold. The picture's color and imagery creates an unease. An inverted arm thrust downward in the center of the light. The hand of the arm flashes a peace sign with its fingers, upside down. At the center of the lights' circular beam at the bottom, two red roses, clipped, and an automatic pistol.
Kyng Rhodes has many additional works in the show including large paintings and smaller mixed media works on paper. Viewing them you begin the grasp the vocabulary of his symbols and the variety of his subject matter.
In Bruised Not Broken, 2021, Rhodes paints a child cherub sitting on a garden of grass that is also with infused with flowers. The child's angelic wings are the color of the divine light that splits the pure blue firmament of sky. The child looks down, oblivious to the bath in light from above, seemingly enraptured in the garden world of wonder beneath its feet.
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(left to right) Cherri's Charm, Gift of Janaee, and God Don't Play About Me, Kyng Rhodes |
Rhodes shows a series of portraits of women in his overall style of light and flowers. Cherri's Charm, 2025, Gift of Janaee, 2023 and God Don't Play About Me, 2026, each reflects an individuality of sitter, through carefully observed dress, hair style and facial expression.
Sly Little Guy II, 2024, is on loan from the Children's Museum, and seems a perfectly crafted art work for a younger audience. A young boy smiles while bathed in a beam of light. His eyes portray a hint of wariness, as he is surrounded by words and phrases as if standing in front of social media community chalkboard. Various affirmations and declarations seem to echo around him. Warnings, truth bombs and slogans swirl and compete with the stillness of the divine light that contains him.
Part Two of this series to follow will review the Kyng Rhodes organized exhibit, The Source, now in the Brett Waller Gallery at Newfields.
Mark Diekhoff, June 2026
See also:
https://www.instagram.com/kyngrhodes/
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