Kit Kat Club Exhibition Origin Story

Kit Kat Club: An Art Form Reimagined
A Collaborative Exhibition by Ramon Shiloh and Scott Erwert
Opening Summer 2026 / Hosted by Rhythms PDX/Portland, Oregon
Dates to Be Announced

Curated by Ramon Shiloh

WHY I CHOSE THIS WORK

There are moments that stick with you. They do not pass quietly or fade with time. They shape how you see the world and, eventually, what you feel responsible for saying.

For me, this began years ago, but it came into sharp focus during the 2016 election. When Trump's 2005 recording resurfaced, I remember sitting with the weight of it. The language around power and consent was not new, but hearing it so plainly, so publicly, shifted something. Then the country, in more than fifty cities, thousands of people took to the streets. What many initially framed as a women’s issue revealed itself as something much larger. It was a human rights issue, and it demanded to be acknowledged.

I carried that moment with me. I did not immediately know what to do with it, but I knew it mattered. I knew it was not something to ignore or move past. I understood this was a moment to hold people accountable to their actions. Words have an enormous amount of power, and Trump was a decisive component in stirring words into chaos. This was not a liberal democrat response. It was a response to let the world know that politicians who enforce the law should be aware that people hold values that matter.

At the same time, I was watching how artists, writers, and activists were responding. Voices like Jessica Bennett, Amanda Duarte, and Stella Marrs, along with communities like Female Collective, were reclaiming narrative in real time. They were turning anger into imagery, dialogue, and action, even directing support toward organizations like RAINN. That mattered to me. It showed me that culture does not just absorb moments like this. It responds to them.

This exhibition is my response.

Choosing to begin with strip culture was not accidental. It is one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized spaces we have, yet it holds an incredible amount of complexity. It is a place where power, vulnerability, performance, autonomy, and perception are all intersected. It is also a space that is often dismissed, rarely given the dignity of serious artistic consideration.

I wanted to challenge that.

I also recognize the tension in doing so. As a man collaborating with another male artist on a subject so deeply tied to women’s bodies and lived experiences, I am aware that this perspective can be questioned. It should be questioned. That awareness has been central to how I have approached this work. Not to define these experiences, but to create space for reflection, to listen, and to engage with care and respect.

This intention is at the core of Kit Kat Club An Art Form Reimagined, a collaborative exhibition with Scott Erwert opening Summer 2026 at Rhythms PDX.

I bring a narrative driven and symbolically rich approach to the exhibition. My work explores cultural identity, systemic history, and emotional landscapes through surreal and layered storytelling. Scott’s paintings capture the physical and atmospheric presence of the club with cinematic precision, emphasizing light, movement, and the structural beauty of performance spaces. His work is shaped by a multidisciplinary career in art direction, graphic design, and illustration across agency, publishing, and independent practice. As former Art Director of Marketing at Lucasfilm, he helped evolve the global visual identity of the Star Wars brand ahead of Episode II. His portfolio also includes award winning packaging for Rose City Distilling and acclaimed publications such as The Cinema of George Lucas and The Making of Indiana Jones, underscoring his command of visual storytelling.

Together our collaboration functions as an equal and unapologetic dialogue, merging realism with surrealism and documentation with reflection.

We are exploring performance culture through twenty works organized into four themes: Safety and Consequence, Spectacular Themes, Architectural Attraction, and Powerful Women. The work moves between realism and surrealism, documentation and interpretation, with the goal of creating an experience that invites people to look closer and think deeper.

But this exhibition is not about past work. It is about what feels necessary now.

We are living in a time that is complex and often uncomfortable. Because of that, I believe the work needs to meet that reality. Not avoid it. Not soften it. But engage with it directly. It also means holding ourselves accountable as artists, acknowledging the responsibility that comes with interpreting experiences that are not our own. We strive to listen more than we speak, to respect lived realities, and to center the voices of those most impacted.

This is the first in an ongoing series of exhibitions that Scott and I are committing to. Together we plan to explore subjects that are often left unspoken. Topics that are sensitive, controversial, and sometimes difficult to sit with. Not for the sake of provocation, but because these are the conversations that shape culture and, ultimately, change it.

This is where it begins.

And it will not be the last.

Images Details: sneak peak of new work
title: Superheroes
medium: acrylic on canvas
size: 30 x 15
by: Scott Erwert