Joe Mama-Nitzberg
Joe Mama-Nitzberg uses cultural artifacts to create striking juxtapositions or modifications that upend our expectations. Working primarily with digital collage printed on fabric, the artist frequently draws reference to pop culture, literature and philosophical references such as Susan Sontag and David Bowie, with aesthetic inspirations from early Microsoft Paint. In one piece, titled Untitled (A Boy’s Own Story), he conjoins the cover photographs for different editions of the titular novel by Edmund White (the initial model’s family sued White after they discovered their son had posed for the photograph).
Mama-Nitzberg received a B.A. from San Francisco State University in 1989 and an M.F.A. from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in 1995. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at a number of galleries including Grant Wahlquist Gallery in Portland, Maine; Marc Foxx in Santa Monica; Galerie Catherine Bastide in Brussels; Bunker 259 in Brooklyn; Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York; the Salzburger Kunstverein; the Pittsburg Center for the Arts; the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions; Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in New York; David Zwirner Gallery in New York; the Renaissance Society in Chicago; and White Columns in New …
Joe Mama-Nitzberg uses cultural artifacts to create striking juxtapositions or modifications that upend our expectations. Working primarily with digital collage printed on fabric, the artist frequently draws reference to pop culture, literature and philosophical references such as Susan Sontag and David Bowie, with aesthetic inspirations from early Microsoft Paint. In one piece, titled Untitled (A Boy’s Own Story), he conjoins the cover photographs for different editions of the titular novel by Edmund White (the initial model’s family sued White after they discovered their son had posed for the photograph).
Mama-Nitzberg received a B.A. from San Francisco State University in 1989 and an M.F.A. from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in 1995. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at a number of galleries including Grant Wahlquist Gallery in Portland, Maine; Marc Foxx in Santa Monica; Galerie Catherine Bastide in Brussels; Bunker 259 in Brooklyn; Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York; the Salzburger Kunstverein; the Pittsburg Center for the Arts; the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions; Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in New York; David Zwirner Gallery in New York; the Renaissance Society in Chicago; and White Columns in New York. His work is in the permanent collection of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He lives and works in Catskill, New York.
Courtesy of Grant Wahlquist Gallery
