Lost in Desire

KP Projects is pleased to announce a new body of work by Eric Nash: Lost in Desire, a series of photorealistic charcoals and oil paintings that capture the subtle, surreal, and subliminal allure of California culture. Nash’s signature visual vocabulary references the atmosphere and minimalism of the Light and Space Movement (originating in Southern California in the 1960’s), crafting an enticing drama that is born from the contrast between light and dark, good and evil, the divine and the material.

“I was born an outsider. I grew up lonely. This was my advantage. I observed – careful, quiet and laconic. The freedom of the road was alluring. The anonymity, the opportunity for a new beginning, the desire for something but I didn’t know what. I took endless photos of the most forlorn places I could find, without people. I felt safe in those places. The abandoned downtowns of the Midwest that looked like Edward Hopper paintings. The giant signs on the flat windswept highways that beckoned me forward.”

With the series’ references to religiosity, paired with Nash’s ritualistic creative process, a sacramental quality to the act of observing is felt. Each image originates as a reference, which is meticulously framed, photographed, and rendered in quiet reverence. Here, even the mundane is not devoid of spirituality, nor is it undeserving of our reverence.

“At age 19 I found myself in Galveston and Houston, Texas. I was a house painter and sidekick to my boss, a man obsessed with strip joints and dive bars. We made an odd pair – me a shy and sexually confused boy and him a highly social and devious man driven by ladies and lust. It was a dreamy time filled with yearning and wonder. I came of age. I met real people doing real things. Lonely people like me. People lost in desire but not knowing what to do. I learned to see such beauty and soul in the mundane. Years later my journey drew me to the California desert where I now live - a vast expanse of desire and dreams. I feel at home. These paintings and drawings are visual poems to these feelings and places, the reason I am an artist.”

Lost in Desire will be on view from May 25th - June 22, 2024.

Gallery Hours are Tuesday - Saturday, 12pm - 6pm.