‘Lock it In’ by Rachel Summer Small
2026
Oftentimes the smallest objects have the greatest significance. For artist Nate Lowman, it matters where you look.
A key is a source of comfort. Though ubiquitous, it’s treated like a precious stone—double-checked on and meticulously placed, or held by a trusted friend for safekeeping. In its absence, panic ensues. Each piece of hardware is unique, yet its form is known to all even if it’s slowly being replaced by far less charming digital modes of entry. “Keys are not obsolete but they are on their way out, which makes them ripe for examination,” says Nate Lowman. “That borderline is like a magnifying glass. Once you understand the finite nature of something, you no longer take it for granted.”
At David Zwirner in New York, keys appear in silhouette as the outlines of canvases across 13 new works by Lowman in “Hanging Out.” Some are rendered realistically, brassy, and grooved, as with Nobody’s Home, 2026, while others sport artificial patterns. Hanging Out and Jinxy Stilleto, both 2026, for instance, are stamped with smiley-faces—a throwback to Lowman’s longtime use of the motif as well as a novelty hardware store clone a friend once made for him. Somewhere in the show is even a true-to-life replica of the artist’s key to his TriBeCa studio.
Read more at Family Style.
