NATHAN KOSTECHKO | For Those About To Bleed
NATHAN KOSTECHKO | For Those About To Bleed + We Salute You
ARTISTS’ RECEPTION: September 6, 7–9 PM
EXHIBITION: September 6 – 27, 2025
FOR THOSE ABOUT TO BLEED
A solo exhibition by Nathan Kostechko
This new body of work continues Kostechko’s exploration of visual language rooted in his daily practices of tattooing, painting, surfing, and reflections on the spiritual realm, impermanence, and the nature of existence. Through painting, drawing, and sculpture, he investigates the world that influences and shapes his prolific creative output.
Nathan Kostechko (b. 1984, San Clemente, CA) is a product of his upbringing on the beaches of Southern California. He is a painter, a tattoo artist, a surfer, and a skater. He owns and operates Nathan’s Lounge, a world-renowned tattoo studio located in Echo Park.
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REMEMBER, YOU HAVE TO LIVE
Nathan Kostechko spends a lot of time thinking about death. He has painted it repeatedly in the form of the grim reaper across many land and seascapes and has tattooed it onto countless bodies. Like so many artists, philosophers, and monks of ancient times who painted, sculpted, and wrote their Memento Mori, he has endlessly contemplated what it means to die.
Plato is said to have stated that “the proper practice of philosophy is about nothing else but dying and being dead.” In Buddhism, Maranassati is the practice of meditating on death and dates back to some of the earliest texts of the Pāli Canon. In fact, the meditation on the end of life appears in every spiritual tradition—from Norse Vikings to Islam, from colonial American Puritans to Hinduism, where practitioners would meditate beside (or even seated on) corpses.
This practice of Memento Mori, Latin for “remember, you have to die,” while seemingly morbid, has led Kostechko to realize, remember, and embrace that he also has to live. This exhibition, FOR THOSE ABOUT TO BLEED, centers around this realization. Through large-scale oil paintings, watercolors on paper, and experimental works like graphite on hand-shaped surfboards, he celebrates all that makes this fleeting existence beautiful. Perhaps nothing exemplifies this more than his curation in our project room, where he gathered an eclectic group of over 40 artists from his community into an exhibition titled WE SALUTE YOU.
A physical and active connection to the natural world, pushing oneself, discovering new ways to create, and celebrating and appreciating friendships may seem simple to some—who expect a lightning bolt when the great mystery is revealed—but perhaps remembering that you have to live and die is as straightforward as that. –Stephen Zeigler
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WE SALUTE YOU
A group show curated by Nathan Kostechko
Opening: September 6, 7–9 PM
Exhibition: September 6–27, 2025
In These Days Project Room, Nathan Kostechko has brought together a group of artists whose support benefited his recovery and creative process after a serious car accident. As a tribute and in appreciation for their generosity and support, Kostechko has assembled a diverse group of painters, illustrators, designers, tattoo artists, and photographers to showcase their work alongside his own. As the saying goes, there is no me without you.
Featuring works by: Coulter Jacobs, Nolan Hall, Jeff Johnson, Lucien Shapiro, Jesse Barba, Canyon Castator, Warren Smith, Joshua Spencer, Ryan Townley, Jeff Sypherd, Adam Palmer, Matt Zumberge, Eric McHenry, Jeff P Does, Andrew James Peters, Mike Gigliotti, Shawn Mckinney, Mark Oblow, Brendan Lynch, Sofia Heftersmith, Jarold Eastman, Daniel Albrigo, Matt Borgia, Aron Dubois, Emma Sesame, Zac Scheinbaum, Horacio Martinez, Jim Evans, Jordan Zoscak, Natasha Deluna, Mario Ayala, Adam Alessi, Kevin Long, Noah Abrams, Tanner Ramsey, Tim Shriver, Jason Redwood, Delaney Renee, Rosie Evans, Jack Watts, David English, and Olan Prenatt.