Reception: CAKE. you can eat it, too

CAKE. you can eat it, too New Works by B Shawn Cox On display February 28th - March 28th, 2026 Austin, TX—Davis Gallery is pleased to present B Shawn Cox’s sixth solo show with us, CAKE. you can eat it, too. Join us for the opening reception February 28th, 2026 from 4-7pm. This feast for the eyes explores cake as both material and metaphor—an indulgent symbol of celebration, desire, and transition. Drawing from vintage pinup calendars, retro muscle fitness magazines, and pop culture toys and memories of homemade birthday cakes, a bit of subtext is baked in the work that revels in sugary excess, saturated color, and nostalgic pleasure. Pulp “beefcake” cowboys and “cheesecake” pinup cowgirls form the base of a fantasy created through layers of color and pattern in a series of new paintings, drawings, sculptural slices, and playful cast objects. Cox translates the dopamine rush of sweets into visual form, merging childhood dreams with Western rural realities and cultural decadence. These works function as visual desserts—sensual, humorous, and self-aware—inviting viewers to savor hidden layers of longing, memory, and indulgence, because you can have your cake and eat it, too.