Tyler Macko

Born 1989, Dayton, OH
Lives and works in Shields River, MT

Tyler Macko, who identifies as a self-taught artist, received his earliest aesthetic education from the design and art of his childhood home: his grandmother’s small still life paintings, as well as rugs, dolls, maps, needlepoint, and lattices-top berry pies. As a teen, Macko’s love of skateboarding found him in abandoned factories and desolate lots where he became interested in the changing history and uses of land.

Since moving to rural Montana, Macko has collected his material for his wall-mounted sculptures from the land and abandoned structures near the property in Shields River Valley and the ranch on which he works. He often features pennies, bones, farm equipment, and carved wood to create a visual record of human habitation on the outskirts of nature. He credits legendary collagists like Picasso and Rauschenberg as formative influences; however, Macko eschews the academically guarded phrases like “assemblage” and “found-object art” in favor of the more approachable “paintings”, which he feels adequately describes his process: a base onto which color, texture, and contrast is layered. He may work on one piece for months or years, until “one day they become harmonious.” 

His recent solo shows include 2023’s “A voice from I don’t know where” at The Dayton Contemporary, and “Oak Bucket” at Simchowitz Gallery, LA. Most recently his work was shown in a 2024 three-person show at Andrew Edlin Gallery.