Zak Prekop, Theme, 2017
oil on muslin.
26 × 24 in.

Zak Prekop's paintings build on a strong history of centuries-old abstraction. Using complex compositional elements, with a variety of overlapping shapes, he shows that abstract images can still be adventurous, fun, and technically challenging. Using the back of his painting supports, as well as the front, he creates subtle meticulous marks, faint lines, and shadowy effects. The New Yorker exclaimed, "Prekop paints both sides of the artwork, and woozy circuits of black or red appear faintly through thin muslin. The fraying contours and subtle underpainting reward sustained attention, and, gratifyingly, would be lost in translation to JPEG. These are paintings made to be seen, rather than circulated."

Prekop (b. 1979 in Chicago) will have an upcoming solo exhibition at Essex Street, New York. He has had one-person shows at Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago; Thomas Duncan Gallery, Los Angeles, Hagiwara Projects, Tokyo; Galeria Augustina Ferrevra, San Juan; and Harris Lieberman, New York. His work has been featured in group shows at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh; the University of Connecticut Art Gallery; Cluj Museum, Romania; Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh; Emily Harvey Foundation, New York; Sutton Lane, London and Paris; and MoMA PS1, New York. The Walker Art Center acquired his work after featuring him in a survey exhibition among 14 other painters from across the U.S. and Europe. He attended Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Städelschule after receiving his MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.