Klaus Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by Philadelphia-based artist Adam Stephen Novak, marking his debut solo presentation with the gallery.

Novak’s paintings originate from the images, GIFs, and memes that populate his digital life and algorithmic feeds. These sources serve as springboards for investigating the space between representation and non-objective abstraction, transforming the digital source material into dynamic, gestural paintings that emphasize texture, brushwork, and color.

Each work begins on the studio floor. Working with acrylics, Novak circles the canvas from all sides, even stepping directly onto the surface. As he lays down the initial layers of color, the canvas accumulates dirt, footprints, and the physical residue of his movements. He then shifts the painting upright, using brushes to overlay marks that loosely imply an image. Taken together, these works respond to our contemporary, fractured visual landscape defined by a constant barrage of digital media, translating it into a richly layered abstraction that commands its own sensory immediacy.

Adam Stephen Novak (b.1978, Lakewood, New Jersey) lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Recent exhibitions include  group shows at James Cohan Gallery in New York, 356 Mission in Los Angeles, Tiger Strikes Asteroid in Los Angeles, and HILDE in Houston, TX. His work has been reviewed in Hyperallergic and the Brooklyn Rail, and was awarded a Pollock Krasner Fellowship in 2018. He holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute.