David Rathman's mottled watercolors illustrate iconic emblems of strength and struggle, luminary and the underdog. Loosely rendered scenes beckon to their pop cultural origins – films, album covers and advertisements alike – while also acting as collated excerpts from a lost Americana memoir. Mirage-like figures seem pulled from the hazy recesses of a sentimental male mind, or from the filmic cutting room floor as Rathman delineates composites of the modern idol. Cowboys, rock stars, athletes, and race cars craft bittersweet vignettes that grapple with notions of sexuality, faith, mortality and nostalgia.

Rathman (b. 1958) received his BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MN). He has exhibited as such institutions as Larissa Goldston Gallery (NY), Contemporary Arts Museum (TX), Walker Art Center (MN), Arts Center of St. Petersburg (FL) and Mary Goldman Gallery (CA). His work is featured in fifteen public collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art (NY), J. Paul Getty Museum (CA) and the Art Institute of Chicago (IL). Rathman is represented by Larissa Goldston Gallery (NY). He lives and works in Minneapolis.

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