Nathan Mabry takes on popular culture and art history as a kind of ready-made. This Duchampian impulse pairs well with Mabry’s own fascination with how art objects function in the public mind. Mabry’s desire to address the totality of culture, both high and low, fuels an urge to make relevant, holistic sculptures that engage with the inherent complexities of the world in which we live. He writes, “I’ve always been fascinated by the power of the object, and how it relates to personal and collective experiences.” In playing with the look and feel of objects, how we relate to them and how we relate to each other, Mabry reinvents their meaning and power. In his “Nostalgia of the Infinite” series, Mabry investigates the intersection of art and anthropology through archeological artifacts and iconic artworks of “cultural significance.” 

 

Nathan Mabry (b. 1978, Durango, CO) received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute (Kansas City, MO) in 2001 and his MFA from the University of California (Los Angeles, CA) in 2004. Mabry’s work was featured in   “The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn” at The Contemporary Austin (Austin, TX). Mabry’s work has been included in numerous exhibitions, including solo and group shows at the Nasher Sculpture Center (Dallas, TX); Hammer Museum (Los Angeles, CA); Orange County Museum of Art (Newport Beach, CA); Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (San Diego, CA); Ahmanson Foundation Gallery (Irvine, CA); Las Vegas Art Museum (Las Vegas, NV); Museum of Contemporary Art (Denver, CO); Myhren Gallery, Mabry lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

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Vanitas-He / Vanitas-She, 2008

Bronze and wood
He skull 5 x 5 x 10.5 inches; She skull 5 x 5 x 9 inches; boxes 12.5 x 7.75 x 6.5 inches each