Distinguished Airs is the creative consultancy representing the work of artist, poet, scholar, and filmmaker David T. Shoemaker. It encompasses over 30 years of creative output in painting, photography, poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, spoken word recordings, and short films. When people ask David when he was born, he usually responds with one of five equally valid responses, depending on the circumstance. If it is a government form or official request, he responds with February 14. But if it is a friend, he might respond with “Day 45”, “the 26th day of a certain president’s term in office”, or “the mid-day of February”. He is least likely to respond, “Valentine’s Day”, because that inevitably leads to rude, suggestive comments or unwanted questions about his love life. It might seem odd to bring up this piece of trivia, but it reflects not only his fascination with time and different calendar systems, but also his ability to see things from different angles and to recognize there is often more than one way to express an idea. Being able to recognize when people are talking about the same thing—but using different words or descriptions—is critical for successful analysis. Even more important is detecting the subtle nuances that may make them different.
Understanding and bringing to light these various viewpoints on the same subject in order to bridge cultural divides and build empathy are at the core of David’s work. It is why he chose “Distinguished Airs” as the name for his company. The name Distinguished Airs is taken from a painting by Charles Demuth (1883-1935). Demuth painted it as an illustration for a short story by Robert McAlmon, also titled “Distinguished Air” (1930).
Unlike most illustrators, who draw or paint what the author has described, the scene Demuth painted is not in the story. Instead, he gives us a picture of a scene between the scenes in the story. He imagines the characters in the story visiting an art gallery to see Constantine Brancusi’s latest sculpture “Princess X”. The abstract brass sculpture proports to be a female bust with an elongated neck in the international gothic style—but many viewers see something more masculine represented by the form. The image forces us to recognize that something can be seen in two completely opposite ways depending on your perspective, just as the number 6 can appear to be a 9 if viewed upside down. The illustration acts as a bridge--connecting, enhancing, and deepening the story.
“Distinguished Air” was the only openly Gay painting Demuth publicly exhibited in his lifetime. By exhibiting it, he was quietly fighting to give a voice to an outcast community. By including a self portrait, he courageously declared “This is who I am” at a time when the very act depicted--men flirting with each other--could be criminal. LGBTQ+ people were routinely arrested at that time for “Disorderly Conduct” if they behaved in overtly homosexual ways.
Demuth defuses this tension with subtle humor. Rather than being shocked or offended, he makes you chuckle at the absurdities of life. David also uses humor and a sense of whimsy to tackle challenging topics in a light-hearted way. “Distinguished Airs” embraces this contradiction: ‘Distinguished’ carries a sense of formality, precision, perhaps even stuffiness or arrogance; ‘Airs’, on the other hand, conveys a sense of light, a breeziness that is comforting and reassuring. David’s work can be both precise and whimsical, challenging and comforting.
David is a recognized scholar on Charles Demuth. He has scripted a documentary film for the Demuth Museum in Lancaster, PA, created a walking tour of downtown Lancaster based on the route of Demuth’s evening stroll, and published a creative non-fiction book about Demuth which balances the facts of his life with a sense of Demuth’s wit and charm. He has lectured about Demuth at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, PA. He is continuing his research and hopes to publish a full biography of Demuth in the near future.
David continues to produce visual art and poetry. His paintings and photographs have been exhibited at the Redding Gallery in Wilmington DE, the Delaware Museum of Art, and the Lancaster Museum of Art. Please check out the Gallery page to see his current works. His poetry has been featured at Second Saturday Poets, the longest running poetry venue in Delaware, at the Newark Arts Alliance, at the Arden Writers Gild, and published in Dream Streets Magazine. His short story “The Eyes of the City” has been accepted into an upcoming anthology by Oddity Prodigy Press. If you are interested in collaborating with David on an upcoming project, would like to commission a work, or want to schedule an event or lecture, please use the contact us page to submit a proposal.