PEANA and MICKEY (Chicago) are pleased to present Paper Back. An exhibition of Nick Schutzenhofer. Featuring a suite of paintings and works on paper created between 2023 and 2025, and showcasing Schutzenhofer’s deep investigation into the materiality of the surface and the "modified timelines" of pictorial space. Schutzenhofer’s practice is driven by a restless assembly of historical and contemporary media. This exhibition focuses on Schutzenhofer’s use of references both narrative and imagery found in printed matter. On single substrates of linen, jute, and paper, he layers an alchemical array of materials: egg oil emulsion, rabbit skin glue, encaustic, marble dust, and pigment dispersions. This dense accumulation creates a site where representation and obfuscation collide. Together, they represent an ongoing rearrangement of language and representation, seeking new meanings in the fragmented textures of the world around us.