Nathan Lewis: In Praise of Shadows
Nathan Lewis: In Praise of Shadows, represents a chance to view his intense work. With an interest in popular culture turned to the darker side, Lewis provides us a glimpse of the world that many viewers might not know, while others live to the fullest extent every day. The University Art Gallery’s programing helps to support our faculty’s teaching. It is through faculty recommendations that many exhibitions come to our galleries. This exhibition was recommended by my colleague Dan Edwards, who wrote the following about Nathan’s work:
Nathan Lewis, who is originally from the Central Valley, has been a friend of mine for over 20 years, since my days in Connecticut. Even though the world knows him as an East Coast artist, I can see the California artist shine through the grayness of his decades-acquired New England coating.
We are privileged to be showing Nathan Lewis’s work at CSU Stan because he is a good role model for a solid work ethic, he packs the hours into his epic paintings, and his work is an excellent example of the fundamentals of ambitious picture-making, like scale, narrative, color, composition and completeness. From the stance of revering old master work and art history, Nathan tips his hat often and to a diverse sampling from different cultures and different times, but he has fun doing so, and takes plenty of what he admires with a grain of salt – he is his own artist and abides by his own vision rather than simply emulating the greats from the past as many of his contemporaries do. Nathan’s vision embodies the world we live in today, though he may borrow techniques he has observed from the past to represent it.
For those of us who know Nathan on social media, we are treated to all of the highlights from his routine pilgrimages to the many art museums from his travels. He consistently reveals often overlooked passages from well-known art and treats his followers to lesser known gems, and he has cultivated a following of revered professional artists who enjoy the challenge of identifying details from the various works. He is a teacher of artists and it is an honor that he is sharing his work with us at CSU Stan!
I am very happy to be able to exhibit Nathan’s work for others to enjoy.
I would like to thank the many colleagues that have been instrumental in presenting this exhibition. Nathan Lewis for the chance of exhibiting his wonderful work, Dan Edwards for recommending Nathan’s exhibition, Brad Peatross of the School of the Arts, California State University, Stanislaus for the catalog design and Parks Printing for the printing this catalog.
Much gratitude is extended to the Instructionally Related Activates Program of California State University, Stanislaus, as well as anonymous donors for the funding of the exhibition and catalogue. Their support is greatly appreciated.
Dean De Cocker Director, University Art Galleries California State University, Stanislaus
Nathan Lewis CV
EDUCATION
2004 MFA, School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University, Boston, MA
2000 BFA, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, CT
1994 Florence Academy of Art, Painting and Drawing Florence, Italy
1993 St. Petersburg, Russia. Independent study in Painting and Printmaking
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Art Space, California State University Stanislaus, Turlock, CA Nathan Lewis: In Praise of Shadows
2019 Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL Invisible Cities: Paintings by Nathan Lewis Jacksonville
2018 Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery, Stamford, CT Visions
2017 Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery, Stamford, CT Nathan Lewis: Mythologies, Fragments, Fiction
2016 Houston Art Fair, Houston, TX Nathan Lewis–solo show
2015 OUMA, Dreams, Discord, and Desire: the paintings of Nathan Lewis Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery, Stamford, CT Nathan Lewis–Light is the Lion
2013 Knight Campus Gallery, Community College of Rhode Island, Warwick, RI
A Life of Looking: Fred Dalkey and Nathan Lewis (2 person show)
2012 West Cove Studios, West Haven, CT Reading the Ruins Curated by Stephen Kobasa
Roger W Rogers Gallery, Willamette University, Salem, OR The Hand that Finds, the Hand that Feeds, the Hand that Fails-Sketchbook Drawings by Nathan Lewis
2011 Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY The Paintings of Nathan Lewis
2010 Windsor Art Center, Windsor, CT Where Do We Go From Here? Curated by Marcia Hinkley (2 person show)
2008 Jack the Pelican Presents, Brooklyn, NY The Blessed Isles, the Paintings of Nathan Lewis
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Spring Break Art Fair, Hearsay/Heresy New York City, NY Emerson Dorsch Gallery
NADA Art Fair, Miami, FL, Exile Books and Printed Matter, Historical Correspondence
2020 Lyman Allyn Museum, A Century of Creativity, New London, CT
2019 Yale University, New Haven, CT Complicit: Erasure of the Body
At Liberty, Bend, OR Divergence
Art Palm Beach, art fair, West Palm Beach, FL
2018 The Gallery at the Visual & Performing Arts Center, Real/Unreal: Realism Now, Curated by Jane Rainwater, Western Connecticut State University, CT
The Bridge Hampton Museum, Hampton Art Fair, Bridgehampton, NY
2017 Seeing Things Gallery, Marks, Curated by Andy Jenkins San Jose, CA
Dehn Gallery, Connecticut Printmaking Invitational, Curated by Pay Fahy, Jane Rainwater and Krista Narcisco, Manchester, CT
2016 Real Art Ways, Multiple Impressions, Curated by John O’Donnel, Hartford, CT
Art Palm Beach, art fair, Palm Beach, FL
Context Art Miami, art fair, Miami, FL
Kondos Art Gallery, 100 Years, 100 Artists, Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA
2015 Housatonic Museum, Bridgeport, CT Remythologies: New Inventions of Old Stories, Curated by Stephen V. Kobasa
2014 The Dishman Museum, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, Mark(ing) Time-New Dimensions in Drawing Cate Charles Gallery, Providence, RI Group Exhibition
2013 Salem Art Association, Salem, OR Divergent Strategies curated by Andries Fourie
2012 Connecticut Office of the Arts, Hartford, CT Individual/Common
2011 The John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art, Extraordinary Facilities, New Haven, CT Gregory Kondos Gallery, Homecoming, curated by Chris Daubert, Sacramento, CA
2010 West Cove Studios, Line Dancing curated by Stephen Kobasa 4/10, West Haven, CT
2009 The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT Full Circle Curated by Regine Basha Exhhibition
2008 Artspace, New Haven, CT Conncentric curated by Liza Statton
Mattatuck Museum of Art, Waterbury, CT CT Biennial curated by Janice LaMotta
2007 South Shore Arts Center, Paint, international juried show, Juried by Gerry Bergstein. Cohasset, MA
Alexey Von Schlippe Gallery, Cultural Identity, New London, CT Curated by Brad Guarino.
2006 Pulse Art Fair, New York, NY, Freight & Volume Gallery
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, ‘Aldrich Undercover ‘, Ridgefield, CT
The National Academy of Art, Bulgaria, Cultural Identity, Sofia, Bulgaria, Curated by Brad Guarino
2005 The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT Radius
Boston Center for the arts, Mills gallery, Boston, MA 19th Annual Drawing Show Curated Denise Markonich
SELECTED PRESS/WORK PUBLISHED
The New York Times The Art of Nathan Lewis -Basic Instinct: Doing What Artists Do, by Benjamin Genocchio NYC, NY
The Huffington Post, Nathan Lewis at Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery, interview with John Seed New York Times, Celebrating a Decade of Nurturing Artists on the Verge by Susan Hodara
New York Press, The Art of Stuff review and interview by Julia Morton NYC, New York
Boston Globe, work featured and reviewed on front page of arts section by Christine Temin
Arts Atlanta, Nathan Lewis Yields Art as Cudgel, at Oglethorpe Museum, by Jerry Cullum
Fine Art Connoisseur, Artists Making Their Mark by Peter Trippi
Art in New England, A Life of Looking: Nathan Lewis & Fred Dalkey, by Stephen Kobasa
Hartford Courant, Opioid: Express Yourself, by Susan Dunne
The Painter’s Table, Nathan Lewis: Reading the Ruins
New Haven Register, the Real/Unreal International Artist Magazine, published in association with exhibition at Vose Gallery, Boston, MA
RESIDENCIES, GRANTS & AWARDS
URCG Grant for study in Japan
URCG Grant for study in France and Belgium
Barbara Ritzman Devereux Visiting Artist Award, Jacksonville, FL
Goodman Banks Artist in Residence, Kingswood Oxford, West Hartford, CT
CT Commission of Arts fellowship, 2 Grants for Painting
Weir Farm, Full Residency
Vermont Studio Center, 2 Full fellowships Johnson, VT
Eitel & Frances Groeschke Award, National Arts Club, New York, NY
Weiss Sisters Awards (2), John Slade Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
Acknowledgements
California State University, Stanislaus
Dr. Ellen Junn, President
Dr. Kimberly Greer, Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs
Dr. James A. Tuedio, Dean, College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Art
Martin Azevedo, Associate Professor, Chair
Tricia Cooper, Lecturer
Dean De Cocker, Professor
James Deitz, Lecturer
Daniel Edwards, Associate Professor
Patrica Eshagh, Lecturer
Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, Professor
Daniel Heskamp, Lecturer
Chad Hunter, Lecturer
Dr. Carmen Robbin, Professor
Ellen Roehne, Lecturer
Dr. Staci Scheiwiller, Associate Professor
Susan Stephenson, Associate Professor
Jake Weigel, Associate Professor
Mirabel Wigon, Assistant Professor
Meg Broderick, Administrative Support Assistant II
Kyle Rambatt, Equipment Technician II
University Art Galleries
Dean De Cocker, Director
School of the Arts
Brad Peatross, Graphic Specialist II
Nathan Lewis - In Praise of Shadows
February 10–March 11, 2022 | Stan State Art Space, California State University, Stanislaus | 226 N. First St., Turlock, CA 95380
300 copies printed. Copyright © 2022 California State University, Stanislaus • ISBN 978-1-940753-64-5
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. This exhibition and catalog have been funded by Associated Students Instructionally Related Activities, California State University, Stanislaus.
