Eric Oliver is an American artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. His current multidisciplinary work mainly explores the interplay of light, color, form, and function within urban and natural environments.
Originally from New York City, Oliver's early passion for photography was fostered by his father. He later earned a degree in fine art photography from Stanford University before moving to Los Angeles to work in film and television.
Oliver's photography often utilizes large-format scanners and digital manipulation. His abstract expressionist paintings are influenced by artists like DeKooning and Twombly and embrace the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi.
With over 30 years in film and television production, Oliver’s unique perspective helps inform his artistic vision. His work has been exhibited in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York, and is held in collections worldwide.
Statement
My work invites the viewer to pause and consider the world around us, to find interest in the overlooked and mundane. I inherited this passion for looking at the every day from my father, an avid amateur photographer. Inspired by his example and photographers like Andrei Kertész and Henri Cartier-Bresson, I developed a deep appreciation for the urban landscape and the power of the camera to capture it.
My photographic work generally explores the tension between growth and decay, progress and impermanence. I capture fleeting moments of city lights at night, transforming them into ethereal streaks of color. I find poetry in the weathered textures of a crosswalk and the elegant simplicity of a lamppost and its shadow.
My paintings extend this exploration, shifting the focus to the marks themselves. The canvas becomes a terrain for an evolving dialogue of form and color. It's more about the interplay of these marks and the balance they achieve than presenting recognizable objects. Each stroke responds to those that came before, creating a visual conversation. Influenced by a wabi-sabi aesthetic, this process embraces the unexpected and finds harmony in imperfections.
-Eric Oliver
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