There is an element of chance in Liz Markus’s painting practice, in which she applies acrylic wash to unprimed canvas; because the painted surface spreads as it dries, Markus cannot predict how her work will ultimately look. The result is a distinctively hazy and atmospheric blend of colors, which abstractly depict the imagery Markus appropriates from American history and culture. In 2009, she exhibited a suite of paintings interpreting Nancy Reagan’s role in her husband’s administration. Other subjects have included hippies from the Vietnam War era, and figures from the counter-cultures of the 1980s, including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Johnny Rotten, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. More recently in 2012, Markus has begun to focus on landscape, with a series of works inspired by Frederic Church’s 19th-century landscapes and the Florida Highwaymen, a group of 26 self-taught African American landscape painters.