Jack Lawler (b.1994, New Jersey) is an American artist living and working in New York City, and has received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. He has exhibited in New York at institutions such as Mery Gates and Jack Hanley Gallery, and had his first solo presentation at No Gallery in 2022.

A digital archaeologist of sorts, Jack sources early computer imagery to craft his images that are not without their sense of irony given the final work presented are paintings on canvas. Embodying a past aesthetic for potential futures, Lawler’s paintings evoke a sense of displaced nostalgia. There is no attempt to represent specific real life situations, instead operating on a surreal dream-logic to entangle the viewer in a space which inhabits remembered and invented narratives simultaneously. At some point in the not-so-distant past, the imagery which Lawler’s paintings are evocative of represented a future where technology presented the potential for utopian living. The glowing pixels of early arcade machines, primarily played by children and teenagers, were altars at which hours were spent in service of entertainment – they were just killing time because time was the only thing both guaranteed and abundant.

Education

2013-2017
Rhode Island School of Design
Providence, RI
Bachelor of Fine Arts, B.F.A.

Solo Exhibitions

2022
You Want To Get There First, I Want To Get There Last – No Gallery – New York, NY

Selected Exhibitions

2019
Horology – Jack Hanley Gallery – New York, NY

Murmur of the Heart – 22 Ludlow – New York, NY

Boys Night Out – Mery Gates – Brooklyn, NY

The Burn Show – Safe Gallery – East Hampton, NY

Haunted Image – Modern Life Fine Arts – New York, NY

2017
Jake & Jack Eat Shit and Die – Paddlecourt Gallery – Westport, CT