BIO

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Justin Bower (b. 1976, San Francisco, CA) is one of the most celebrated painters of his generation working in the grand tradition of monumental portraiture. His work over the last three decades consists of a series of archetypal faces that reflect what it means to live in an era of unprecedented technological change. Bower’s aesthetic mixes the bravura of American Realism and Abstract Expressionism with geometric motifs that seem to be glitching right before our eyes. His portraits emerge out of a virtual ether of atmospheric effects and thick impasto, where each piece is a virtuoso performance in paint. Bower’s story includes nearly being stabbed to death in southern California as a young man to becoming a top draft pick for the University of Arizona football team, both of which gave him a sense of resilience and the unwavering drive to build a career where his work has been collected by the world’s most influential patrons and respected institutions.

Largely self-taught through years of experimentation and trusting the process of finding his own voice, Bower’s paintings have had a major impact on the rise of the neobaroque, glitch theory, and post-digital aesthetics. His breakthrough exhibition at ACE Gallery was heralded by Pulitzer Prize winning art critic Christorpher Knight as a moment where “bigger really is better” and Bower’s writings about his art practice have been hailed as a “theoretical masterpiece” by Ken Wilber, who is one of the most widely read American philosophers working today, with more than 25 books translated into 30 foreign languages. Bower was a recipient of the prestigious Feitelson Fellowship, and his work was recognized by the Joan Mitchell Foundation for its iconic power. His work has been the subject of more than ten monographs by galleries, museums, and universities like Unix Gallery, the Museum of Art and History (MOAH), and Riverside College.

Bower’s paintings have regularly gone for double and triple their auction price at Sotheby’s. His collectors include Axl Rose, Ben Bourgeois, Bella Campen, Carlos Slim, Eugenio Lopez, Greg Conn, Paula Goodman, Paul Thomas, Nick Reed, Stuart Holt, Tim Redman, and Wendy Asher in addition to appearing in movies and television shows like Landman, the number one show on Paramount+ as well as Ridley Scott’s next major film project. His paintings have been exhibited alongside the work of Bas Jan Ader, Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Glenn Brown, Chuck Close, Mary Course, Valie Export, Urs Fischer, Wade Guyton, Damien Hirst, Mike Kelly, Martin Kippenberger, Elizabeth Payton, Robert Rauschenberg, and Julian Schnabel. Some of his most recognizable pieces are in the permanent collections of the Weisman Art Foundation, the Laguna Museum of Art, and the Cosmopolitan Collection in Las Vegas. His paintings were included in Picasso’s Playbook (HENI) alongside works by Tracy Emin, David Salle, Julie Mehretu, and Ai Wei Wei. He has been a teacher at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and the Laguna College of Art + Design, where he works and lives with his wife Jackie and their three children.