STOWAWAY is pleased to present The Rum Point Club, a solo presentation by Brooklyn based artist Kyle Hittmeier, opening October 12th with a reception from 5-8PM

The Rum Point Club presents ten works on canvas and linen. Hittmeier’s alluring compositions center on the Cayman Islands, a historically infamous tax haven. The Panama (2016) and Pandora (2021) Papers both uncovered the extraordinary prevalence of clandestine offshore financial networks, where an estimated 15% of the world's wealth is currently stored. These havens are built through an opaque system involving ghost shareholders, elaborate paper trails, and exploited regional actors. Hittmeier’s practice, which has long been rooted in the examination of political power, recently shifted focus to capital; the ever-present back bone of influence. He has since sought to build a design language for the present and future—one that aestheticizes the global network of wealth obfuscation and concealment.

In The Rum Point Club, indigenous flora of the Cayman Islands such as the Banana Orchid (the national flower of the Caymans) and the Silver Thatch Palm (the national tree) are rendered in a synthetic taxonomy, relating plant phytotomy with contemporary banking structures. Trompe-l'oeil post-it notes, one of few remaining physical artifacts in a digitally evolved financial world, overlay tourist images of the islands; they , simultaneously annotate and redact their surroundings. Hittmeier’s deft hand vanishes and re-emerges throughout the works–careful stenciling overlays combine with fluid paint applications, while sharp figures contrast with blurred and censored backgrounds. Temporal shifts, from fireworks to flower gardens, spotlight the resonance of evasive money, and its impact on abused territories.

Kyle Hittmeier (American, b. 1983) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work integrates 3d digital space with physical media. Hittmeier graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a Master's of Fine Arts in Painting. He was a resident artist for the Un/mute 10002, OCAD Digital Painting Atelier; and the Wassaic Residency Program. Hittmeier lives and works in Brooklyn, NY where he teaches at Lehman College and Sarah Lawrence College.

Recent exhibitions include Crossing Art Gallery; Beijing Dangdai Art Fair; High Noon Gallery; The Austrian Cultural Forum, New York; Nancy Margolis Gallery; the Boston Center for the Arts; SPRING/BREAK (LA + NY); Arlington Arts Center, Transfer Gallery, and Coherent Gallery.