Nate Geare is 30 years old and has been living and making work in LA for 8 years. He received his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from UCLA in 2008 with an emphasis in painting and sculpture. Nate currently makes oil paintings on large wood panels along with smaller scale collages. His large oil paintings are made using palate knives instead of brushes, giving them a rough feel and creating a unique texture.
In an effort to eliminate the stark, blank surface of a new canvas, Nate Geare uses color fields, drips and paint splashes, to activate what will become the background of the composition. Whether its portraits of cows, landscapes and trains, or mixed media collage, Nate Geare’s work uses this activated surface as a starting point to layer a more structured foreground.
“The Cow series,” explore portraiture and the human condition of Anthropomorphism… Why is it that we cant help ourselves from projecting a human emotion on animals? And despite this projection we give little regard to the cow’s well being. Geare’s interest in cows specifically, has to do with these majestic animals being a primary source of food for Americans and most other cultures worldwide. Although he loves and respects the cow deeply, it does not hinder him from eating them! “If God didnt want us to eat them, then why did he make them so damn tasty?”… the viewer is left with an impression of the darkness of our condition.
The Landscape/ train series seeks to create a sound composition through the balancing of abstract background with a structured foreground. Drawing from such movements as the impressionists of the late 19th century and the abstract expressionists of the 1950s, these works lean on perspective and ambiguous buildings.
Monet and the Impressionists are a big influence on Nate’s work. Also John Heartfield of the Dada movement, David Hockney, John Baldessari, and Ralph Steadman..
