Nate Mahoney Studio

Tag: contemporary art

  • The Urbanist.

    The Urbanist.

    Why did I create an urban-focused retail art project?

    The Urbanist is a retail art project designed to help people thrive in the city at the intersection of local community, urban inspiration, art, and design. 

    My passion to support people in the city is based on my own experience. I looked for a place to call home after leaving the suburbs. I moved to the city looking for creative inspiration and queer safe space. But, it was a challenge to adapt without knowing how to find belonging and the high cost of living had me operating in survival mode. 

    Now, the city is my home, I want to put all of my urban problem solving skills to good use, helping others[a] here feel welcome by creating goods, services, and community building. This is how I want to show up as an artist[b] in the city and how I want to interact with the world. 

    When I started this artist retail project, I focused on things people needed. I interviewed people and curated a welcome kit through partnerships with other small businesses. The first Welcome to San Francisco Kits were sold to brides to give to their out of town wedding guests in 2014. These kits now exist as a resource for all kinds of visitors, whether visiting or relocating, their contents offer locally made products that help welcome you to the city that has so much to offer.

    This artist run retail project has evolved from just offering welcome kits to offering services that build community[c]. It’s a potential future goal to help people find affordable[d] housing in the city. 

    I celebrate the serendipity that occurs when people meet in cities and I want to use humor and inject joy into my process, making it healthy, fun, and the end result both lively, human, and engaging. I want this small artist business to be able to thrive while maintaining its unique voice in the fast-paced urban environment.

    —The Urbanist

    Welcoming essentials for urban explorers. Taking the sense of secrecy out of urban exploration while leaving all the adventure, The Urbanist aims to offer mindful, sustainable, and essential services to the community, fostering a sense of accessibility and familiarity for visitors, tourists, and relocating urban explorers.

  • Howdy Cowboy Painting series.

    Howdy Cowboy Painting series.

    For Walking, 2025, acrylic on canvas, 11” x 14” x 1”

    Howdy Cowboy. A western painting series that I’m currently working on. This work challenges traditional masculine stereotypes by reinterpreting cowboy imagery to critique conventional idealized narratives. I found myself needing to explore a personal conflict, being attracted to cowboys but also not wanting to further patriarchal symbolism.

  • “Forest Bathing: Queer Portraits in Nature: Marqeist”, 2023, 20 x 30 1.5″, Digital Photography, Nate Mahoney.

    “Forest Bathing: Queer Portraits in Nature: Marqeist”, 2023, 20 x 30 1.5″, Digital Photography, Nate Mahoney.

    What the series is about.

    This series documents people exploring and being rejuvenated by forest bathing in nature. The collaboration with queer subjects across the spectrum of LGBTQIA+ includes video interviews and still photographs to share that sense of calm with our community.

    There is an open call to be photographed for this ongoing project. Link to participate.

  • About the artist. Nate Mahoney

    About the artist. Nate Mahoney

    Nate Mahoney creates work inspired by dualities. Design and art. Rural and urban. Photography and painting. Analog and digital. The work is centered on compassion for others trying to survive in our complex and inhospitable world. As a queer artist, and urban dweller, Nate reacts to the city with inspired work that communicates connections between people, time, nature, place, and space. Nate’s works often result from a research practice and collaborative process.

    Nate received a MFA in Design from California College of the Arts, a MFA in Cinema and Photography from Southern Illinois University, and a BA in Liberal Arts from The Evergreen State College.

    Nate lives and works in downtown San Francisco, California.

    Photo by Anusha
    Photography
    Printmaking
    Painting