Vacant motels, deserted gas stations and vintage marquee signs dot the highways and byways of America.
Proof that entropy is always lurking, waiting to claim what humans have left behind.
While most of us speed on by those rusty, leftover, forgotten buildings, antique cars and dilapidated eateries without a second thought, they still sparkle for landscape painter Jason Kowalski. For the entirety of his 15-year career as a full-time, professional artist, which began immediately after graduating from Laguna College of Art + Design in Laguna Beach, Calif., the Monument oil painter has devoted his considerable talent to capturing mid-20th-century roadside Americana.
“These places are disappearing all the time,” Kowalski said. “I feel an obligation when I see something cool — I better do a painting of that or at least get some references so I can do a future painting because it’s going to be gone.”
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He can’t pinpoint why the pieces of roadside Americana speak to him, though it likely took root as a kid.
“Probably my family having a strong interest in antiques,” he said. “They had a big antique collection. We were always going to antique shops and going on a lot of road trips as a kid.”
Clad in a plaid button-down on a nippy autumn day in a forested neighborhood west of downtown Monument, Kowalski stands in his sizable attached garage turned studio, gazing at two large paintings hanging on the wall. The two pieces are the last of 16 headed to a new cloud-themed show at LewAllen Galleries in Santa Fe, N.M. One depicts an old, forsaken gas station in Raton, N.M., with a denim-washed sky and a poof of cotton ball clouds. In the second are two old cars parked in front of a motel on Route 66 in Holbrook, Ariz., where a vacancy sign hangs in front of a birthday cake-shaped stack of clouds.
“I love old cars. They’re easier to make pictures of than to own,” Kowalski said. “I appreciate the history. I like patina and rusty, scratched-up stuff — it makes for beautiful paintings. The challenge of trying to depict that texture in paint is an endlessly fun challenge.”
While Arnold, a senior, white and caramel-colored basset Lab mix, snoozes on a piece of carpet, and three of his four young kids scamper in and out, touching base with their dad before motoring on, Kowalski spins a tale of regret and longing.
“We lived in Minnesota for a couple of years and drove past this drive-in movie sign. It was beautiful,” he said. “We drove past for a year and I said we have to stop and take that photo. But we never did. We were always in a hurry. We went to the Twin Cities one day to go shopping and it was gone. They put a Walmart there. You see that happen a lot. I regret that majorly.”
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But there’s more to his nostalgic landscapes than just paint. Step a little closer and you’ll start to spot secrets and surprises lurking within the oils. In his new painting of the Holbrook, Ariz., motel you’ll see faint glimmers of something extra lurking toward the bottom of the landscape: faint images of old TVs, an old TV Guide, a bottle of whiskey, playing cards. He likes to cut up old wallpaper, advertisements, magazines and postcards, layer them in about halfway through the painting process, and finish by painting over them.
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“I put it in certain spots to draw you in, not to be distracting, but to add a texture and narrative element to the work,” he said. “So you can get in there and start reading things.”
Kowalski, who grew up in Eau Claire, Wis., is represented in several galleries around the country, and he’s done a few shows at Colorado galleries, including Abend Gallery and Gallery 1261 in Denver. Recently, he was awarded a prestigious $30,000 grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in New York. The nonprofit was founded at the bequest of Lee Krasner, an American abstract expressionist painter and the wife of famous abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock. Out of more than 50 winners in the U.S., Kowalkski is the only artist in Colorado to receive one.
“He’s talented beyond belief,” said Brandon Brown, director of sales at LewAllen Galleries, home to Kowalski’s new show, “Old Glory.” “There are a lot of artists doing nostalgic pieces, but his talent is foremost. He’s got that special quality. It’s the atmosphere he creates. It’s the feelings those works evoke of subtle memory and nostalgia and it’s interesting he’s documenting these places we’re losing. He’s tapping into something deeply American.”
Brown has invited Kowalski to show his work in three Santa Fe galleries since meeting him nine years ago.
“He’s the youngest or second youngest artist on the roster,” Brown said. “It’s pretty remarkable to be showing at a gallery of this stature where the usual artist is old to deceased. It’s a testament to the work.”
Kowalski’s art is a family affair. Parked in front of his house is a large van and an even larger vintage 1970 Avion camper he and his wife, Maria Kowalski, who’s also a landscape painter, found in Lander, Wyo., while driving back from Yellowstone National Park four years ago. Inside there’s room for all three bigger kids, Jason and Maria, and their newest addition, a baby girl born this summer.
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The Kowalskis load up the kids and art supplies every spring break and half a dozen times every summer, attach the camper to the van, and collect miles on the odometer as they travel the country looking for adventure, beauty and those pieces of Americana Jason covets. When they come across one, they’ll pull off the road so Jason can take photos for reference when he gets back to the studio.
Colorado, where the family’s lived for the last decade, is rich with inspiration; Salida and eastern Colorado are standouts. And then there are the surrounding states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah.
Sometimes there’s a specific spot he wants to check out, thanks to scouring magazines, websites and social media for paint-worthy scenes, and sometimes they randomly drive around, taking the back roads, hoping to stumble across an inspiring piece of abandoned history.
“I like a certain level of texture, especially on signs,” he said. “Popping colors with texture. That’s a lot of fun and a big challenge to paint. Crumbly brick buildings that are falling apart but you can still tell the story.”
His work also is popular with collectors around the country, including Dennis Costello, who bought a piece last year featuring two abandoned vehicles in a field in front of old houses.
“The subject matter is interesting and nostalgic,” said the Evergreen collector. “And he has a way with color, specifically in the one I bought, that is early dawn or just before dusk that has this wonderful aura about it. It’s beautiful. And he does this collage that made it more interesting.”
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Publish date : 2024-11-07 23:00:00
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