Artist Alex Lukas wants us to stop using the term “post-Apocalyptic” to describe his paintings of flooded, overgrown, shattered American landscapes sans people. It’s “more open-ended” than that: Maybe it wasn’t the Apocalypse. Maybe no people “doesn’t have to be awful.”

He blames Hollywood because it so likes to wank about America being destroyed. He’s asking you nicely.

Alex Lukas’ current show at the Guerrero Gallery features some new riffs on cult motifs, namely, graffitied concrete stubs jutting out of sprawling floods and sprouting trees and grey rippling skies. No, it doesn’t have to be awful. Alex Lukas, Sep 10 – Oct 08, Geurrero Gallery, San Francisco

Alex Lukas is an optimist when it comes to “the aesthetics of destruction.” Borrowing known-cityscapes from vintage periodicals, Lukas projects our collective obsession with “national mortality” with screen-printing and painting. His post-Apocalyptic scenes hint at hope and renewal, soon on view at Guerrero Gallery in San Francisco. See a preview below.

“These Are The Days of Miracle and Wonder,” Alex Lukas, May 8 – Jun 3, Geurrero Gallery, San Francisco

Practicing the art of destruction, Alex Lukas renders urban landscapes uninhabitable, submerging them underwater and thick with foliage. Next month, the artist will exhibit his collection of vintage magazine photos turned into post-apocalyptic metropolises alongside a collection of more contemporary images of devastating despair. “The Eventuality of Daybreak” opens from November 12th through December 6th at Glowlab, 30 Grand Street.

Images via Alex Lukas

In one interview, Alex Lukas said his work is inspired by Hollywood and that he’s “very interested in the dominance of images of America destroyed.” That would help explain the post-apocalyptic depicting artist’s work. Still, out of all the decimated metropolises, this piece featuring a disturbingly submerged Lower Manhattan especially captured our hearts. |ZEB|

Ink, acrylic, gouache and silkscreen on two book pages, 14.5×11 inches