Through his established practice of geometric abstract drawing and painting, Nathan Danilowicz responds directly to the Corrine Woodman Gallery, as he considers the convention of the 4th wall in relation to the architecture and the phenomenological experience of The Arts Center.

The use of the metaphoric 4th wall in art is nothing new. Widely attributed to 18th-century philosopher Denis Diderot, the term refers to the theatrical convention whereby actors engage directly with the audience, thereby breaking the 4th wall– that invisible barrier that separates the viewer from performer/artist and aids the viewer in losing themselves in the artistic experience. Initially reserved for rare consequential circumstances, the breaking of the 4th wall has become all too common in contemporary art and entertainment. You might be hard-pressed to watch a film, tv show, stage act, or performance in which an actor and/or narrator does not break the 4th wall.

With these concepts in mind, Danilowicz exhibits roughly 80 small pen drawings on paper (with four larger paintings in the Corrine Woodman II), each completed daily beginning in April 2024 and concluding in July 2024 – conversing with one another and strengthening the group, as they refer to, but try not to break, that 4th wall.

The viewer is encouraged to consider all the possible definitions of the 4th Wall – the invisible theatrical wall that separates the artist from the viewer, the Corrine Woodman Gallery’s missing physical wall, and the 4th wall near the back entrance of the building…

NATHAN DANILOWICZ (b. Pennsylvania, USA) works in a variety of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, book-making, and photography. His focus is on abstract drawing and painting as well as architecturally-inspired installations. He is developing a visual language that transcends economic, cultural, and geo-political backgrounds. In addition to these concerns are my varied interests in the
unconscious to create works that point to our shared technological dystopia, beauty, and the unknown. By exploring the spaces where modernism, ritual, cryptography, and mysticism commingle, he aims to create artworks that are fresh, yet oddly familiar and timeless.

Danilowicz earned his MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2007, and a BFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in 2002. His most recent work has been described as conceptual strategies of painterly abstraction and sci-fi shamanism.

A MacDowell Colony Residency Fellow, he has exhibited nationally and internationally. Solo exhibitions include Linda’s, Latned Atsär, and RAID Projects in Los Angeles; Crisp London/Los Angeles; and the H. Lewis Gallery in Baltimore. His numerous group exhibitions include shows the Hammer Museum, Torrance Art Museum, Cal State University, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Santa Monica Museum of Art, California State University Northridge, Cirrus Gallery, Telic Arts Exchange, Raid Projects, Coachella Valley Art Center, Eighth Veil, 533 Gallery, Bonelli Contemporary, and Art LA Contemporary in Los Angeles; Locust Projects and TwentyTwenty Projects in Miami; Lust Gallery in Vienna, Galerie Françoise E.S.F in Baltimore, The Green Gallery East in Milwaukee; Queen’s Nails Annex at the Waypoint in Marfa, TX; and The Luggage Store in San Francisco, as well as the Fairbanks Gallery at Oregon State University.

He has written for the publication artUS, and his work has appeared in TimeOut London, Miami New Times, The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore’s City Paper, DIAGRAM, New American Paintings, PRISM Index, and Beautiful Decay. In addition, he has self-published numerous works of fiction, poetry, and sequential art.

While at UCLA, Danilowicz studied New Genres under Chris Burden, Jennifer Bolande, Andrea Fraser, Donn Suggs, Lari Pittman, Charles Ray, Mary Kelly, Jeffrey Vallance, Ron Athey, and John Baldessari to name a few. While at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, he studied art history and theory under T.J. Demos as well as poetry under John Yau. He has worked as a studio assistant for Jason Rhoades, Won Ju Lim, and later for Mike Kelley. In addition, he has collaborated on text/image projects with writer and theorist Lawrence Rickels as well as fiction writer Brian Evenson.