Jason Middlebrook’s practice blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture, merging geometric abstraction with organic materials to explore the complex relationship between nature and human intervention. Best known for his signature plank sculptures—slices of indigenous hardwoods painted with intricate, abstract patterns—Middlebrook transforms natural forms into meditations on environmental stewardship, aesthetic systems, and the legacy of modernist art. His work often references 20th-century abstractionists such as Ellsworth Kelly, Bridget Riley, and Frank Stella, while remaining grounded in a material sensitivity that reflects his reverence for the environment.
Middlebrook (b.1966, Jackson, MI) received his BFA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, and participated in the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Originally based in Brooklyn, Middlebrook relocated to Hudson, NY, where the surrounding landscape continues to shape his environmentally conscious practice.
Recent solo exhibitions include Bill Arning Gallery, Houston, TX; Galleria Giampaolo Abbondio, Todi, Italy; Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, CO; Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA; Gallery 16, San Francisco, CA; LaMontagne Gallery, Boston, MA; Jeff Bailey Gallery, Hudson, NY; Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin, TX; Galleria Pack, Milan, Italy; and the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Catskill, NY. Notable group exhibitions include the Children’s Museum of the Arts, New York, NY; Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg, FL; Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA; Parco Archeologico di Siponto, Italy; Peters Projects, Santa Fe, NM; Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; and the Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE, among others.
His work is held in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; Denver Art Museum, CO; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; New Museum, New York, NY; Marte Museum, San Salvador, El Salvador; NASA Art Program, Washington, D.C.; and the US Embassy in Podgorica, Montenegro, among others. Middlebrook lives and works in Hudson, NY.