HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY

HALSEY MCKAY is pleased to present, In Pursuit of Shadows, Augustus Nazzaro’s first solo exhibition. Through layering and sanding black acrylic on wood panel Nazzaro creates pictures that simultaneously float between representation and abstraction. Imagery slowly appears from the redacted haze of the paintings – a decimated interior, brutalist architecture, documents on a scanner, a rifle locker, windows taped off for impeding stress. The grain of these pictures call to mind Xerox printed Zines, microfiche and infrared imaging – the visual language of subterfuge and conflict. From slight optic clues, the ghost in the machine conjures the Zapruder film, the spy camera, and the drone image. A tone is clear while specific origins of source remain allusive. Close behind these initially darker themes are the Precisionists’ virtuosic spaces – disclosing Nazzaro’s keen sense of observation and grasp on the nuanced possibilities of painting.

Augustus Nazzaro was born in East Islip, NY and now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Nazzaro holds both a BFA and MFA from the School of Visual Arts, NY. Recent exhibitions include: Come Together: Surviving Sandy, Year 1, Industry City, Brooklyn, NY; Marquee Moon, Thierry Goldberg, NY; Ugly, Broke, Sober at Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, NY