David Smouha’s Camp Gold Coast Exhibition Is Putting Superman On His Knees

This October, Artist David Smouha’s sexy, muscular, and infinitely camp take on if Superman “came out” as a Greek god is hitting the Gold Coast. 

The free exhibition, entitled “Gods & Monsters: The Heroic Figure” opens 12pm on Saturday 3 October at Smouha’s own studio at 19 Karen Avenue, Mermaid Beach. 

“The exhibition reimagines the world’s most famous superhero — cape, crest, jawline and all — as classical statuary, blown up ten times too large and set kneeling before the ruined arches of the Colosseum,” wrote Smouha on Instagram.

“His head dissolves into a granular cloud of comic-book dotmatrix noise. It is, in short, a lot: bold, saturated, dripping in artifice, and entirely aware of exactly how much it’s serving.”

David Smouha’s Muscled Heroes Are Portraits Of Self-Acceptance

For Smouha, capturing a muscular Superman “serving” isn’t about making a statement, it’s about honouring desires he’s always had, whether or not he always had the words to describe them.

“The first gods and supermen I ever saw were lifesavers on the beach,” Smouha told the Star Observer, “built like the statues I’d later study in art school, and not so different from Superman either. 

“I didn’t have the language for any of this when I was younger,” Smouha said, “not the art, not what I was drawn to underneath it. Both came late, and they came together without me planning it that way.”

Every work is produced using dye sublimation: ink baked directly into the surface of the aluminium under heat and pressure, rather than sitting on top of it, which is what gives the finished pieces their high-gloss, almost lacquered shine.

According to Smouha, these rippling muscular bodies dipped in acid magenta aren’t just hot; they’re also Intellectual™. Namely, their excessive extravagance was inspired by Susan Sontag’s “Notes on Camp”, where “the essence of camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” 

“Camp is what happens when that desire stops hiding and starts winking at the viewer,” Smouha said. “It’s fun, it’s queer, and it’s camp in the best sense of the word.”

As for who should pay the exhibition a visit, Smouha has three specific people in mind:

“Anyone who loved a superhero a little too much. Collectors who want contemporary work with real presence in a room, not just an investment. And every queer kid who drew their own comic-book crushes in the margins — I hope they feel seen, and I hope they never stop reading comics.”