Max Manning

Untitled (PPR491) - Original Green Tone Surrealist Abstract Mixed Media Artwork

2024

Max Manning is a Houston-based painter whose practice he describes as “algorithmic abstraction”, studio-built systems that he deliberately disrupts to create compositions where loosely figurative fragments, patterns, and color fields collide. Working in series, Manning sets up rule-driven visual frameworks such as grids, repeated motifs, cut-outs, and layered shapes, and then interrupts them through shifts in palette, gesture, and scale. The result is a retro-contemporary language: paintings that acknowledge a world shaped by data and screens while insisting on the tactility, stillness, and breath of paint. • One-of-a-kind abstract artwork on paper measuring 14 inches high by 10 inches wide • Artwork is not framed • Signed by the artist on the back • Includes certificate of authenticity issued by the art gallery • Convenient local Los Angeles delivery • Affordable Continental U.S. and international shipping available Across his practice, Manning has maintained a clear studio ethos: to “paint through the questions” of life lived alongside algorithms. Instead of reproducing digital aesthetics, he uses rule sets to destabilize them—allowing glitches, misalignments, and pauses to surface. The work’s visual “systems” act less like predictive code and more like open, humanized structures where attention can rest. This stance has resonated with curators and collectors attuned to abstraction’s current arc: grounded in art-historical form, responsive to contemporary cognition, and committed to the slow time of looking. Manning earned a BFA in Two-Dimensional Studies from Bowling Green State University (2011) and an MFA from the University of Cincinnati (2014). His work has been exhibited widely in the U.S. and abroad and gained early institutional and critical attention through selection for the 2017 Texas Biennial, curated by Leslie Moody Castro, with press coverage in Texas arts media. Artspace Warehouse has been representing and exhibiting Max Manning's original artworks since 2025. The gallery has been a 1stdibs partner since 2014 with consistently excellent reviews from clients worldwide. The gallery exhibits a large selection of affordable original artworks from established and emerging international artists with diverse backgrounds at high standards. Artspace Warehouse is known to provide accurate descriptions, images, reliable services, communication, and delivery. The gallery's commitment to customer satisfaction means that clients can invest in art with confidence, knowing they have a reputable and established art gallery backing their acquisition. Artspace Warehouse prioritizes our clients' peace of mind by ensuring a seamless and worry-free art-buying experience. REPRESENTATION Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, USA SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017 Language Game, TW Fine Art, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 2015 In Tongues, EN EM Art Space, Sacramento, California 2014 Now Made with Real Paint, No Future Projects (online) Soul-Rocket, Pipeline Artist Space, Cincinnati, Ohio 2013 Uberplasticist Exhibition #1, Pipeline Artist Space, Cincinnati, Ohio 2011 Screening Reality: Erotomania (Paintings and Drawings by Max Manning), Bowen Thompson Student Union, Bowling Green, Ohio GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2025 Space City Spotlight, Seismic Gallery, Houston, Texas 2023 No Zoning, Reeves Art and Design, Houston, Texas 2022 Crimson Tide, Soft Times Gallery, San Francisco, California The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas Small Works, Soft Times Gallery, San Francisco, California Summer Preview, Todd Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri 2022 Salina Biennial, Salina Art Center, Salina, Kansas Project for Ukraine, Far By Wide — Online Exhibition Miami University Yeck Young Painters Competition, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 2021 Quiet Fire, curated by Jessica Cannon and Jay Gaskill, Far By Wide — Online Exhibition Not Just Another Anthropocenic Love Story, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, New York DAAP Made, University of Cincinnati Indian Hill Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio Loop, Box 13 ArtSpace, Houston, Texas 2020 Concrete Pocket, Houston Community College Central Gallery, Houston, Texas Lines of Thought, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea Flatfile Exhibition, Collar Works, Troy, New York Mirror Eye, curated by Youngspace and Far by Wide, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY Ortega y Gasset Flatfile Exhibition, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, New York 2019 The Christmas Edit, TWFINEART Group Art Show, Todd Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, MO Be. Long. I Like Your Work Juried Exhibition, curated by Erika B. Hess, David Linneweh, and Mychaelyn Michalec, Dutoit Gallery, Dayton, Ohio Of Texas, curated by Adam Farcus, Lease Agreement, Lubbock, Texas Priority Mail, Ground Floor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Art Hustle, Reed Gallery, Cincinnati, OH Lobster Dinner, curated by Will Hutnick, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, New York 2018 Trade Show, My Friend PTX, Paris, Texas TWFAX2 + Matt Sheridan + W Hotel, TW Fine Art, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Papercuts, curated by Kristian Day, Saatchi Gallery, London, England The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas Squaring the Sun, curated by Jessica Cannon, Far By Wide — Online Exhibition 2017 Paper Cuts, curated by Kristian Day and Jeanette Gunnarsson, Tripp Gallery, London, England Winter Exhibition, James May Gallery, St. Algoma, Wisconsin 2017 Texas Biennial, curated by Leslie Moody Castro, Big Medium Austin, Austin, Texas Milestones, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio Antipol, curated by Max Presneill and Chris Trueman, Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, California Priority Mail, Ground Floor Gallery, Brooklyn, New York Chaos, Ro2 Art, Dallas, Texas Intimates, Skylab Gallery, Columbus, Ohio ATTACH FILES, 50/50, Kansas City, Missouri Día de los Muertos, Lawndale Art Center 2016 Funkytown, Urbano, Berkeley, California The Big Show 2016, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas Small Works, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, New York From Here, Fluorescent Gallery, Knoxville, Tennessee Construct, 337 Project Space, Grand Rapids, Michigan 2015 Be, Mist Gallery — Online Exhibition More or Less, Front/Space, Kansas City, Missouri Le Cours de Chose, Le Praticable Espace D’Exposition, Rennes, France At the Sound of The Bell: Break Away, Pear Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio Chill, Zen, Funk and Twang, Curating Contemporary — Online Exhibition 2014 Sugar Rush, En Em Art Space, Sacramento, California New Abstraction: 3 Select, Metropolis Collective, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania Extraordinary Flecks and Things Butting Up, LOHIOH, Cincinnati, Ohio By The Pleasure of Doing, Espacio 20/20, San Juan, Puerto Rico Divisible: please, actually, introspective, Divisible Project Space, Dayton, Ohio Business Casual, collaborative show with Jessica Simorte, Neon Heater Gallery, Findlay, Ohio LUSH, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio Fiction, University of Dayton Galleries, Dayton, Ohio 2013 Fresh Paint Showcase, Media Wall at Commerce Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pop-Up Art, Niehoff Design Studio, Cincinnati, Ohio Members Small Works Exhibition, Roy G Biv Gallery, Columbus, Ohio Wintery Mix, Rock Paper Scissors, Cincinnati, Ohio Crosspollination, Collaborative show with Jessica Simorte, 840 Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio Sweety Salty Sculpture Funk, Collaborative show with Jessica Simorte, Pipeline Artist Space, Cincinnati, Ohio All Fall Down, Meyers Gallery, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio Modern Makers & Fernside Benefit Art Auction, Niehoff Urban Studio, Cincinnati, Ohio Renewal, Drift...

Max Manning is a Houston-based painter whose practice he describes as “algorithmic abstraction”, studio-built systems that he deliberately disrupts to create compositions where loosely figurative fragments, patterns, and color fields collide. Working in series, Manning sets up rule-driven visual frameworks such as grids, repeated motifs, cut-outs, and layered shapes, and then interrupts them through shifts in palette, gesture, and scale. The result is a retro-contemporary language: paintings that acknowledge a world shaped by data and screens while insisting on the tactility, stillness, and breath of paint. • One-of-a-kind abstract artwork on paper measuring 20 x 16 inches • Unframed and signed by the artist on the back • Includes certificate of authenticity issued by the art gallery • Convenient local Los Angeles delivery available • Affordable Continental U.S. and international shipping available Across his practice, Manning has maintained a clear studio ethos: to “paint through the questions” of life lived alongside algorithms. Instead of reproducing digital aesthetics, he uses rule sets to destabilize them—allowing glitches, misalignments, and pauses to surface. The work’s visual “systems” act less like predictive code and more like open, humanized structures where attention can rest. This stance has resonated with curators and collectors attuned to abstraction’s current arc: grounded in art-historical form, responsive to contemporary cognition, and committed to the slow time of looking. Manning earned a BFA in Two-Dimensional Studies from Bowling Green State University (2011) and an MFA from the University of Cincinnati (2014). His work has been exhibited widely in the U.S. and abroad and gained early institutional and critical attention through selection for the 2017 Texas Biennial, curated by Leslie Moody Castro, with press coverage in Texas arts media. Artspace Warehouse has been representing and exhibiting Max Manning's original artworks since 2025. The gallery has been a 1stdibs partner since 2014 with consistently excellent reviews from clients worldwide. The gallery exhibits a large selection of affordable original artworks from established and emerging international artists with diverse backgrounds at high standards. Artspace Warehouse is known to provide accurate descriptions, images, reliable services, communication, and delivery. The gallery's commitment to customer satisfaction means that clients can invest in art with confidence, knowing they have a reputable and established art gallery backing their acquisition. Artspace Warehouse prioritizes our clients' peace of mind by ensuring a seamless and worry-free art-buying experience. REPRESENTATION Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, USA SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017 Language Game, TW Fine Art, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 2015 In Tongues, EN EM Art Space, Sacramento, California 2014 Now Made with Real Paint, No Future Projects (online) Soul-Rocket, Pipeline Artist Space, Cincinnati, Ohio 2013 Uberplasticist Exhibition #1, Pipeline Artist Space, Cincinnati, Ohio 2011 Screening Reality: Erotomania (Paintings and Drawings by Max Manning), Bowen Thompson Student Union, Bowling Green, Ohio GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2025 Space City Spotlight, Seismic Gallery, Houston, Texas 2023 No Zoning, Reeves Art and Design, Houston, Texas 2022 Crimson Tide, Soft Times Gallery, San Francisco, California The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas Small Works, Soft Times Gallery, San Francisco, California Summer Preview, Todd Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri 2022 Salina Biennial, Salina Art Center, Salina, Kansas Project for Ukraine, Far By Wide — Online Exhibition Miami University Yeck Young Painters Competition, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 2021 Quiet Fire, curated by Jessica Cannon and Jay Gaskill, Far By Wide — Online Exhibition Not Just Another Anthropocenic Love Story, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, New York DAAP Made, University of Cincinnati Indian Hill Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio Loop, Box 13 ArtSpace, Houston, Texas 2020 Concrete Pocket, Houston Community College Central Gallery, Houston, Texas Lines of Thought, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea Flatfile Exhibition, Collar Works, Troy, New York Mirror Eye, curated by Youngspace and Far by Wide, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY Ortega y Gasset Flatfile Exhibition, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, New York 2019 The Christmas Edit, TWFINEART Group Art Show, Todd Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, MO Be. Long. I Like Your Work Juried Exhibition, curated by Erika B. Hess, David Linneweh, and Mychaelyn Michalec, Dutoit Gallery, Dayton, Ohio Of Texas, curated by Adam Farcus, Lease Agreement, Lubbock, Texas Priority Mail, Ground Floor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Art Hustle, Reed Gallery, Cincinnati, OH Lobster Dinner, curated by Will Hutnick, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, New York 2018 Trade Show, My Friend PTX, Paris, Texas TWFAX2 + Matt Sheridan + W Hotel, TW Fine Art, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Papercuts, curated by Kristian Day, Saatchi Gallery, London, England The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas Squaring the Sun, curated by Jessica Cannon, Far By Wide — Online Exhibition 2017 Paper Cuts, curated by Kristian Day and Jeanette Gunnarsson, Tripp Gallery, London, England Winter Exhibition, James May Gallery, St. Algoma, Wisconsin 2017 Texas Biennial, curated by Leslie Moody Castro, Big Medium Austin, Austin, Texas Milestones, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio Antipol, curated by Max Presneill and Chris Trueman, Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, California Priority Mail, Ground Floor Gallery, Brooklyn, New York Chaos, Ro2 Art, Dallas, Texas Intimates, Skylab Gallery, Columbus, Ohio ATTACH FILES, 50/50, Kansas City, Missouri Día de los Muertos, Lawndale Art Center 2016 Funkytown, Urbano, Berkeley, California The Big Show 2016, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas Small Works, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, New York From Here, Fluorescent Gallery, Knoxville, Tennessee Construct, 337 Project Space, Grand Rapids, Michigan 2015 Be, Mist Gallery — Online Exhibition More or Less, Front/Space, Kansas City, Missouri Le Cours de Chose, Le Praticable Espace D’Exposition, Rennes, France At the Sound of The Bell: Break Away, Pear Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio Chill, Zen, Funk and Twang, Curating Contemporary — Online Exhibition 2014 Sugar Rush, En Em Art Space, Sacramento, California New Abstraction: 3 Select, Metropolis Collective, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania Extraordinary Flecks and Things Butting Up, LOHIOH, Cincinnati, Ohio By The Pleasure of Doing, Espacio 20/20, San Juan, Puerto Rico Divisible: please, actually, introspective, Divisible Project Space, Dayton, Ohio Business Casual, collaborative show with Jessica Simorte, Neon Heater Gallery, Findlay, Ohio LUSH, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio Fiction, University of Dayton Galleries, Dayton, Ohio 2013 Fresh Paint Showcase, Media Wall at Commerce Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pop-Up Art, Niehoff Design Studio, Cincinnati, Ohio Members Small Works Exhibition, Roy G Biv Gallery, Columbus, Ohio Wintery Mix, Rock Paper Scissors, Cincinnati, Ohio Crosspollination, Collaborative show with Jessica Simorte, 840 Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio Sweety Salty Sculpture Funk, Collaborative show with Jessica Simorte, Pipeline Artist Space, Cincinnati, Ohio All Fall Down, Meyers Gallery, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio Modern Makers & Fernside Benefit Art Auction, Niehoff Urban Studio, Cincinnati, Ohio Renewal, Drift Studios...

This painting is the first in a series of large paintings I'm doing over the course of the 2021 summer months. I started with a medium blue/gray base to give richness and consistent saturation across the whole piece. I wanted this to feel like hiking through the deep woods on a hot, humid day when the visceral experience of nature is unavoidable. I had the Dinosaur Jr...

This composition of psychedelic, oceanic shapes appears to be in constant motion. The clusters of varied shapes are arranged closely together, yet with enough space to breathe, creat...