We're thrilled to announce a new exhibition by Prof. Jason Lahr (painting) opening at the South Bend Museum of Art!
Associate Professor of Painting and Director of Graduate Studies Jason Lahr is presenting a solo exhibition of new work, Source Code, at the South Bend Museum of Art, running October 24, 2026–January 3, 2027 in the museum’s Art League gallery.
Please join Prof. Lahr and SBMA curator Frances Jacobus-Parker on Thursday, November 19 for a conversation about the show beginning at 6:30pm (galleries will be open 6-8pm that evening). The exhibition is also included in the museum’s First Friday event on Friday, December 4 from 5-8pm.
From the museum:
In his solo exhibition Source Code, Jason Lahr presents five new large-scale paintings that explore painting as a contemporary narrative form. Blending text that he writes, appropriated imagery, and diverse visual languages, Lahr investigate the complexities of working-class American masculinity. Drawing from narrative theory, contemporary and postmodern fiction, semiotics, feminism, and film theory, Lahr’s paintings challenge conventional perceptions of gender, class, and identity.
At the heart of this practice is a dynamic interplay between digital and analog methodologies. Traditional oil and acrylic techniques converge with digital tools such as Illustrator, Photoshop, and computer cut vinyl stencils to create a layered, intertextual network of meaning. The visual language of digital culture—ranging from video games and early computer graphics to .jpg glitches—merges with references to illustration, print media, and graphic design to explore generational shifts in masculinity from Generation X and beyond. Integrating digital aesthetics and processes that are realized through traditional painting methods, Lahr’s work examines the narratives and assumptions that shape contemporary masculinity through a diverse and evolving visual vocabulary.
Giving a window into the process behind the making of the paintings, Source Code is notable as it presents Lahr’s extensive system of visual notes, tests, source material, and related problem-solving ephemera alongside the paintings for the first time.
Source Code invites viewers to consider the ways in which cultural narratives influence identity formation. This approach not only bridges the gap between painting traditions and digital culture but also sparks critical conversations about gender, class, and the visual lexicon of modern society.
This exhibition is made possible in part by support from the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good, and the Department of Art, Art History & Design at the University of Notre Dame.
All work courtesy of Meredith Rosen Gallery, New York, NY.
https://southbendart.org/jason-lahr-source-code/
Important Dates:
Thursday, November 19, 2026: Artist talk and reception 6-8pm with a conversation between Jason Lahr and SBMA Curator Frances Jacobus-Parker at 6:30pm.
Friday, December 4, 2026: First Friday reception, 5-8pm