This work by Nathan Mabry references Constantin Brâncuși’s Portrait of Mademoiselle Pogany (1912), an iconic sculpture that departs significantly from conventional portraiture, but also invokes ethnographic inspiration. Mabry adopts the simplified form of this modernist icon and accentuates and removes features in order to make it resemble a mystical outer-space mask. The work also functions as an incense burner, releasing a custom scent from the eyes. Mabry’s work infuses a range of visual resources such as ancient artifacts, modernist sculpture, pop culture, and minimalism. Mabry samples and appropriates these elements in order to question the narratives of progress that frame the history of Western art, and to interrogate the values and meanings of his sources.

Nathan Mabry (b. 1978, Durango, CO) received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute (Kansas City, MO) in 2001 and his MFA from the University of California (Los Angeles, CA) in 2004. Mabry’s work was recently featured in a major exhibition, “The Sorcerer’s Burden: Contemporary Art and the Anthropological Turn” at The Contemporary Austin (Austin, TX). Mabry’s work has been included in numerous exhibitions, including solo and group shows at the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles, CA); Orange County Museum of Art (Newport Beach, CA); Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (San Diego, CA); Ahmanson Foundation Gallery (Irving, CA); Las Vegas Art Museum (Las Vegas, NV); Museum of Contemporary Art (Denver, CO); Myhren Gallery University of Denver (Denver, CO); The Nasher Sculpture Center (Dallas, TX); Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO); Carter Arts Center (Kansas City, MO); Foosaner Art Museum (Melbourne, FL); the Rubell Family Collection (Miami, FL); Parrish Art Museum (Southhampton, NY); Bluecoat (Liverpool, UK); and the Vanhaerents Art Collection (Brussels, Belgium). His work has been the subject of reviews and articles in such domestic and international publications as Art in America, Artforum, Art +Auction, Frieze, Modern Painters, The Art Newspaper, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times. Mabry lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

Upcoming Art Fairs

Felix Art Fair, Los Angeles – February 25th - March 1st, 2026