2019 Catalogue Archive

Jason Middlebrook explores human disruptions of nature by using aesthetic tactics to portray man’s uncompromising footprint on the earth. In his recent series of paintings on wood, geometric shapes conform to the organic shape of cross-sections and planks of wood. The bright shapes appear deliberately manmade, though they respond to the imperfections and textures of the wood, acting as a metaphor for the tension between humans and the natural world. Middlebrook’s work has been exhibited in public institutions such as Arthouse, Austin; Aspen Art Museum; Santa Monica Museum of Contemporary Art; and the Whitney Museum, New York. His work is in the public collections of ICA, Boston; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; MoMA, New York; New Museum, New York; and the Whitney Museum, New York.