Nate Lowman

Nate Lowman collects and transforms the detritus of contemporary American life, re-evaluating familiar signs and symbols. His alkyd paintings recall both blurred, photocopied images and fresh, inky tattoos, while his shaped canvases, text works, and screen prints transform smiley faces, bullet holes, word games, celebrities, and historical events into uncanny hieroglyphs for the present moment. Lowman was born in Las Vegas and grew up in Idyllwild, California. Lowman's 'Maps' expand on his own shaped canvases begun in the early 2000s, depicting doodled hearts, trompe l'oeil decals of bullet holes, and air freshener trees. Yet, while those earlier works reflected on the printed image, the 'Maps' explore the effects of chance, gesture, and history, merging erratic splatters and stains with allusions to American quilt-making, Pop art, and politics. The works are produced by cutting fragments of studio drop-cloth into the shape of individual states and combining them. Courtesy of Gagosian.