Exhibition description placeholder two or three paragraphs about the body of work, the themes Shannon was working through, and what the show set out to do. This is the primary interpretive text that contextualizes the work for collectors, press, and institutional visitors.
A second paragraph that goes deeper into the practice the materials, the process, the questions the work is asking. This is where the curatorial voice of Lion & Lamb comes through most clearly.
A closing paragraph that locates the work in a broader context art historical, cultural, or personal to the artist’s trajectory.
Artist
Exhibition
Between the Lines
Year
Gallery
Lion & Lamb Fine Art Old City, Philadelphia
Works in Exhibition
Lion & Lamb Fine Art is pleased to present Between the Lines, a new body of work by Philadelphia-based artist Shannon Zimbriski, marking a significant evolution in her ongoing exploration of self, style, and surface. Following the celebrated series Life in Stripes and Dress Code, this exhibition traces a shift in her practice where stripes once served as anchor and architecture, they now open into a broader visual language of gesture, movement, and intimate reflection.
Curatorial Overview
Lion & Lamb Fine Art is pleased to present Between the Lines, a new exhibition by Philadelphia-based artist Shannon Zimbriski, whose work expands the visual language of contemporary figurative painting into a meditation on duality, identity, and the shifting boundaries between public and private selfhood.
Structured as a spatial and emotional progression, Between the Lines unfolds across two psychological terrains. The front gallery cool, graphic, outward-facing echoes the choreography of public life: the gestures we perform, the personas we construct, the subtle armor we put on to move through the world. Here, figures appear in motion or suspended in stasis; sneakers caught mid-stride, garments carried like emblems, symbols of taste and aspiration hanging in quiet tableaux. These works inhabit the space of presentation: who we want to be, who we signal, how we read and are read.
As the viewer moves deeper into the exhibition, the atmosphere shifts. The light warms. The compositions soften. The body becomes less stylistic icon and more intimate presence. This interior space reflects a different register entirely one of inwardness, tenderness, and disclosure. Gestures loosen; garments slip; expressions blur into something less performative and more honest. If the front room speaks in the language of self-styling, the interior room speaks in the language of self-recognition.
Across both spaces, Zimbriski develops a sophisticated dialogue between surface and depth. A moody palette of navy, black, and graphite is punctuated by unexpected intrusions of red and neon. Foil surfaces catch and release light as the viewer moves, making reflection an active component of the work a reminder that identity is both constructed and mirrored, always in motion. Throughout, she tucks in coded references to fashion, music, desire, and memory: fragments of poetry, handmade button pins stamped with humor or confession, talismanic objects elevated into symbols of interior life.
Taken together, the works create a subtle architecture of duality: the exterior self that navigates the world, and the interior self that longs, watches, remembers, and recalibrates. The tension between the two is not resolved; rather, it is honored as the quiet engine of the exhibition. Between the Lines becomes a portrait not of one identity, but of the shifting space between identities a space in constant negotiation.
With this series, Zimbriski steps into a new moment in her practice. What began as a study of stripes and graphic rhythm now opens into a more nuanced emotional register. Gesture becomes language. Color becomes mood. Surface becomes portal. And vulnerability, once concealed beneath pattern, becomes the work’s animating force.
Between the Lines invites viewers into an unfolding narrative of self-construction and self-return: the outer life declared, the inner life revealed, and the subtle, luminous terrain that exists in the space between.
Artist Statement
Between the Lines grew out of a need to see myself differently to keep what I’ve built and push past it at the same time.
Stripes still appear, but they aren’t the whole story anymore. I’ve been thinking a lot about movement, rhythm, and what it means to let an image breathe to let it walk, linger, or unfold on its own terms. The series unfolds like a walk through my world.
At first, the paintings feel open and in motion sneakers caught mid-step, power lines strung with shoes, fragments that hint at life passing and the pace of daily existence. As the work progresses, that motion slows. The compositions turn more intimate, gestures soften, and the gaze shifts inward. What begins as a study of public presence becomes a portrait of vulnerability and reflection, of being seen, then choosing what to reveal.
The materials mirror that balance. Moody tones of navy, black, grey, and red are interrupted by flashes of neon and foil that catch light only when you move. Some works hold fragments of love poems from a designer whose words shaped my ideas of strength and beauty; others carry humor and confession through handmade button pins small acts of openness disguised as adornment.
Together, these paintings trace a kind of reclamation the slow shift from public self to private power. Between the Lines is about how that transformation feels: the tension, the curiosity, and the quiet confidence of seeing yourself, again and again, in a new light. A reminder that self-definition isn’t static; it’s something you walk through, layer by layer, until you recognize yourself again.
Exhibition Details
Between the Lines -
On view
November 2025 January 2026
Location: In Person · Philadelphia, PA
Opening Reception: December 13th, 5pm midnight
About the Artist
Shannon Zimbriski (b. 1991) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Philadelphia. Her work explores the intersection of fashion, identity, rhythm, and emotional memory, drawing inspiration from personal archives, urban movement, and textile culture. Her practice bridges painting, crafted objects, and visual storytelling, building a language rooted equally in aesthetics and introspection.
For press images, interviews, or additional information:
Between the Lines
Exhibition Catalogue
The full exhibition catalogue for Between the Lines includes the complete body of work, an introductory essay, and artist statement. Available to download as a PDF or browse below.
Between the Lines - Exhibition Catalogue
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