Nil Ultra

Trading in themes of power dynamics, and the malleable meaning of symbols, Nil Ultra (Jason Moore, American, b.1978) has secured a place just left of contemporary collage. Culling cartoons, war reportage, ad copy, lifestyle and fashion photography, all pre-dating his birth, Moore builds his canon from bygone printed ephemera. Meticulously clipped and carefully affixed to vintage paper, the works openly lampoon religion, militarism, globalization, and the cult of subculture with equal parts derision and distant affection.

Scrawled notes from book leafs and sun-yellowed toddler drawings live in the corners of some works, pointing directly to the persistence of time. The semiotic fragments that co-exist within the pieces recall William S. Burroughs' literary Cut-Up experiments, but Moore's X-acto knife still seeks meaning among the chaos. Motifs such as the gender warping of sports heroes and military leaders reinforce loose associations, making them concrete through a tightening of visual structures.

— Sterling Bartlett (Artist/Designer)