AUTOMAT Collective is proud to present Ducks on the Pond, a solo exhibition of new works by Alexandria Nazar.

There’s a world where it seems an obvious choice to curate a baseball show in 2026, this country’s semiquincentennial, a cute milestone for this kitchen sink of a nation. After all, baseball is America’s Pastime. However, the sport predates America, and America itself is tremendously predated by the land it occupies. Even as a baseball fan myself, the idea of curating a show about baseball did not interest me. But this show isn’t about baseball. This is a show about painting, about bodies, about intimacy. Alexandria Nazar pays close attention to the subtle moments among players, coaches, their environments, and their mannerisms. Her paintings are about the material quality of paint on the surface as much as they are about the subjects they form.

This show highlights Nazar’s sophisticated yet playful handling of paint on a spectrum of canvas sizes. From the smallest work, a nearly monochromatic 7 x 5-inch painting, to the largest: a monumental, five-panel installation covering 17 feet on the gallery’s main wall, these paintings pack a punch and require a long, slow gaze.

On the other hand, a summer show whose content is explicitly relatable allows for a wider audience to enjoy these paintings. I firmly believe art should be accessible to the masses and not gatekept by private collectors and overpriced institutions. A surface-level “baseball show” allows new eyes to explore the subtle beauty of art-making and material exploration. Nazar has a knack for grabbing the viewer’s attention from a mile away. At the same time, she slowly draws you in, noticing the lustful impasto and clever brushwork, intense layers of underpaintings finding their way back to the surface, and a maze of abstracted clusters of intertwined bodies.

Ducks on the Pond is a celebration of paint through a gendered expression of male physique, American sports culture, brotherly love, and camaraderie.