In Western stars, Kowalski turns his attention to the seemingly ordinary corners of the Western landscape—faded motels, vintage cars, roadside diners—rendering them with the luminous reverence of a stargazer. “Like the stars in the sky,” Kowalski explains, “when one takes time to look, the viewer is rewarded with a rich account of time and unmistakable beauty.” His paintings are not just visual records, but emotional landmarks, where memory, history, and place converge.

Each work in the exhibition begins with a sketch—a compositional and color study that allows Kowalski to build a cohesive narrative for the show. “I place my sketches together on a pegboard to see how they interact,” he notes. “Some are omitted, others are kept. It’s how I shape the story.”

Integral to Kowalski’s practice is his use of ephemera—handwritten notes, newspaper clippings, postcards, and other found materials that he subtly embeds within his oil compositions. These fragments offer not only a visual texture but also a layer of poetic meaning. “The softness of cursive script,” he says, “is a wonderful juxtaposition to the hard-edged stroke of my paintbrush.” In one standout painting featuring the Winchester Drive-In Theatre—an iconic, retro-styled landmark with its sun-faded marquee still standing against the Western sky—a faded note drifts through the painting’s surface, less for the words themselves than for the way they flutter visually, like memory.

Among the works in the exhibition, Hometown Haven holds special significance for the artist. Depicting a building in Florence, Colorado, the painting was inspired by a quiet family moment during a road trip. “My young son was on my shoulders, and we were walking across the road after browsing antique shops. It’s such a happy memory—and I knew the building would make for a compelling painting.”

Kowalski’s art speaks to a broader cultural nostalgia, but it avoids sentimentality. His buildings—sun-bleached and timeworn—are not relics, but survivors. “There is beauty in the undone, the abandon,” he says. Rather than mourning what’s been lost, Western Stars celebrates what endures.

Jason Kowalski was born in Boynton Beach, Florida, and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He received his BFA from the Laguna College of Art and Design in 2009 and has exhibited widely throughout the United States. His work has been featured in publications including Southwest Art and Western Art & Architecture, where he was praised for his ability to “elevate the overlooked and uncover the extraordinary in the everyday.” Known for his richly evocative depictions of American roadside architecture and forgotten landscapes, Kowalski’s work captures both the nostalgic splendor and solitude of the contemporary West for an era gone by.

Western stars invites viewers to pause and look closely—to see the forgotten architecture of the American West not just as subjects, but as stories waiting to be told.