biography
Zack Lobdell (b. 1977) creates outsize, high-energy abstract paintings that merge street art, expressionism, and the chance-based creative practices of Surrealism. Painting from a place where hope and critical awareness collide, Lobdell is prolific beyond compare, creating densely packed paintings that appear at first loose and freeform, then give way to minute, linear details. Gestural explosions become, in turn, regimented and systematized. Dynamic swaths of color are punctuated by a mysterious cuneiform, architectonic configurations, and the occasional cartoon-like animal. Canvases radiating vibrant yellows and pinks are incongruously dystopic.
Lobdell began as a Photorealist painter, then shifted to abstraction early in his career. He favors monumental canvases whose scale harkens to murals, graffiti, and the Abstract Expressionists. Lobdell’s rich, active surfaces speak less of his tools and techniques than of the intensity of his physical enterprise—and of the act of painting as both producing and responding to a shared cultural ethos. (Derin Tanyol- Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York)
Zack’s work has been collected, exhibited and represented internationally, including Singapore, London, Miami, New York City and throughout the United States. He can be found in his studio in Greenwich, New York, uncovering his next exciting movement.
Curriculum Vitae:
Zachary Philip Lobdell
b.1977 Albany, NY
Education
1995-96, 2002-03
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
Current
“Ethos” Solo Exhibition, The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY October 5th, 2024- January 5th, 2025
“Duality” Two man show with sculptor Noah Savett, The Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville, NY November 2nd, 2024- December 8th, 2024
Selected exhibitions and art fairs
2024 “Sanctuary” Solo Exhibition, The Coop Contemporary, Saratoga Springs, NY
2024 “The Fire Remembers” Solo Exhibition, Rooted in Salem Contemporary Art, Salem NY
2023 Solo Exhibition, One River School of Contemporary Art, Englewood, NJ
2022 “Reckoning” Solo Exhibition, Salem Art Works, Salem, NY
2021 National Virtual Exhibition, Denise Bibro Fine Art, Chelsea, NY
2021 “FORCE,” Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT
2021 “Ultra Local,” Van Der Plas Gallery, New York, NY
2019 "Knife to Canvas," Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Lake Placid, NY
2019 Group Exhibition, The Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville, NY
2019 "On the Rocks," Susan Eley Fine Art, New York, NY
2019 Featured Artist, Jumbo, D&D Building, New York, NY
2018 Red Dot Miami, Miami, FL
2018 Art San Diego, San Diego, CA
2018 Reveal Art Fair, Saratoga Springs, NY
2018 Featured Artist, DzineNY, D&D Building, New York, NY
2017 "Nature of Resistance," Solo Exhibition, Artlery 160, Boston, MA
2017 "Beyond Color," The Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville, NY
2016 “Slaying the Dragon,” Fundraiser, Saratoga Springs, NY
2016 Featured Artist, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Lake Placid, NY
2016 Summer Juried Exhibition, Honorable Mention, Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, CT
2015 Solo Exhibition, Spring Street Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY
2014 “Hudson Rising,” SoHo, NY
2014 Verge Art Fair, SoHo, NY
2013 New Material Art Fair, South Beach, Miami FL
2011 Group Exhibition, Lucid Gallery, Denver, CO
2011 Solo Exhibition, HOCS Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY
2009 "New Perspectives in Contemporary Art," Sundari Fine Art, Saratoga Springs, NY
2008 Solo Exhibition, Beekman Street Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY
Recent Press
Interview for Art Town, 2023
https://spotify.link/x2srt8GmvDb
Saratoga Living Article, September 2021
https://saratogaliving.com/zack-lobdell-saratoga-artist/
Interview for Hudson Mohawk Magazine’s Media Sanctuary, 2021
https://on.soundcloud.com/td9NADrV1pCjTUja9
The Barre Montpelier Times Argus, May 2021
Salem Art Works’ ‘Force’: The power of art indoors and out
by Mary Gow
“The three panels of Zack Lobdell’s “Wild Things” burst with color and movement. The explosion of orange, yellow, blue and green almost fill the canvases, black background squeezed to the edges. Lines of pale yellow evoke that exuberant energy of scribbling with a flashlight outdoors on a dark night, lines of light lingering in your eyes. Amidst the profusion, occasional little glyphs and characters float by. “Wild Things” especially resonates with this moment in time as we move forward from our unprecedented past year.”
The Artful Mind, April 2021
FORCE
by Harryet Candee
“I have visited Zack Lobdell’s studio in Gansevoort several times leading up to the show, and every time, there is pliable energy, excitement, and newly completed paintings that have a vivid life.” [Pearl Cafritz]
jez Magazine, Fall 2018
"Chrysalis" (attached) along with several other pieces featured in Roberto Cavalli shoot at DzineNY
by Ezequiel De La Rosa
The Daily Gazette, August 2018
International-caliber art fair comes to Saratoga
by Indiana Nash
Saratoga Living Magazine, July 2018
Artist Zack Lobdell Exhibiting Works At Saratoga's REVEAL Art Fair, New York City's DzineNY
by Jeff Dingler
The ALT, March 2017
"...Lobdell uses a highly evolved technique... to express emotion and evoke powerful, spiritual visions. Three of his works – Sequence, Chrysalis, and The Traveler, which are all large mixed media works on canvas – are stunning."
by William Belche
public art:
2016 - Present “Gravity,” on loan to The Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness, Boston, MA
commissions:
2018 “Resolve”, series of 3, private collector, Saratoga Springs, NY