Twenty years of showing the work
Alex Rowan has kept to small rooms and long hangs. He shows in groups of eight to twelve paintings, never more, and prefers a second visit to an opening night.
The rooms have got quieter as the paintings have got louder. Since 2022 he has worked almost entirely with galleries that will give him white walls, daylight, and no wall text. He wants the work to hold the room without competing for attention. Given enough space, the paintings begin to speak to one another as much as to the viewer.
Solo exhibitions
- 2026 · Slow Hand — Consectetur Gallery, New York.
- 2025 · Everything I Did Not Take Back — Adipiscing Art Space, Los Angeles.
- 2024 · Ochre, Sage, Red — Dolor Studio, Chicago.
- 2023 · Letters I Never Sent — Sortkløver, Copenhagen.
- 2022 · The Ground Underneath — Amet Projects, Seattle.
The Copenhagen show was his first outside the United States and remains the one he talks about. Eleven paintings, a room with north light, and a printed sheet instead of labels.
Group exhibitions
- 2026 · Marks and Remains — Lorem Contemporary, New York.
- 2025 · After the Hand — Ipsum Arts Center, San Francisco.
- 2024 · Casa Abierta — Taller Veinte, Mexico City.
- 2023 · Slow Painting Now — Elit Arts, Boston.
- 2022 · Six from Brooklyn — Veniam Gallery, Philadelphia.
Mexico City brought the sage green into the work. Alex Rowan spent three weeks there and came home with a palette he had not used before.
He shows twice a year at most, and has turned down more invitations than he has accepted. The paintings need the time.
All exhibitions, venues and dates are fictional examples.