Oliver Osborne
Oliver Osborne (b. 1985, Edinburgh, Scotland) lives and works in Berlin. Encompassing both figuration and abstraction, the artist uses repetition, as well as tweaks in composition and chiaroscuro, to excavate new images from sustained, often art historical fixations. In this sense Osborne explores painting’s malleability over time, as well as its relationship to the personal– his subjects range from recognisably appropriated figures of portraiture to his own family. Spanning such variations as silk-screen, monochromatic abstraction and photorealistic oil painting, the artist’s practice is never constrained. And although he may paint a singular subject multiple times, each rendition is never the same.
Selected solo exhibitions include: Fondazione ICA Milano (upcoming, 2025), Botticelli, Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin (2024) Manganese Blue, Galeria Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca (2023) Recent Painting, Tanya Leighton, Los Angeles (2023), Mantegna’s Dead Christ, Union Pacific, London (2022), Portrait of a Fat Man for Düsseldorf, JVDW, Düsseldorf, Germany (2022), Der Kleine Angsthase, Braunsfelder, Cologne, Germany (2020), Birth, Education, Leisure, Death, Giò Marconi, Milan, Italy (2019) and Bonnie, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany (2018).
Selected group exhibitions include: I Would Not Think To Touch The Sky With Two Arms, Paulina Caspari Gallery, Munich, Germany (2024), Meet me by the lake, CLEARING, New York (2024), Various Others, Paulina Caspari Gallery, Munich (2024), A GENTLE CRUISE, JVDW, Düsseldorf (2024), Nine Oils, Francis Irv, New York (2024) Day by Day, Good Day (curated by Ted Targett), Union Pacific, London (2022), Triple Burner, Union Pacific, London (2021), HEART–100 artists, 1 mission, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany (2020), Editions, Peles Empire, Berlin, Germany (2019), and The Go Between (curated by Eugenio Viola), Museo di Capodimonte, Naples and Sprovieri, Italy (2014), amongst others.
Untitled (Grund und Figur II), 2023, oil on herringbone linen, 113 x 72.5 x 6 cm, 126 x 85.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on herringbone linen, 22.5 x 28.5 x 2.5 cm, 35.5 x 41.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, carbon on paper, 30 x 24 cm, 34 x 28 x 3 cm with frame
Velázquez Boy, 2023, oil on herringbone linen, 26.5 x 22.5 x 2.5 cm, 39.5 x 35.5 x 6 cm with frame
A Portrait of a Fat Man (after Robert Campin), 2023, oil on linen, 35 x 30 x 3 cm, 48.4 x 43.2 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on linen, 130 x 82 x 3 cm, 143.5 x 96.2 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on linen, 34 x 24 x 2 cm. Courtesy: Pelaires Gallery; photograph: David Bonet
Recent Painting (2 Leaves), 2022, oil on linen, 50.5 x 45.5 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
Recent Painting (10 Leaves), 2022, oil on linen, 100.5 x 150.5 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
Untitled, 2022, oil on linen, 26 x 28 x 3.2 cm, 41.4 x 43.4 x 6 cm with frame
Barbara Villiers, 2022, oil on linen, 35.5 x 30.5 x 3.2 cm, 50.5 x 45.5 x 6 cm with frame
Barbara Villiers, 2022, oil on linen, 35.5 x 30.5 x 3.2 cm, 50.5 x 45.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2020-2022, oil on linen, 51 x 56 x 3.8 cm, 66 x 71 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled (Selbstbildnis), 2022, oil on linen, 45.2 x 40.2 x 3 cm, 60.2 x 55.2 x 6 cm with frame
German Afternoons No. 4, 2022, machine embroidered cotton duck, dimensions variable. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 13, 2022, oil on linen, 40.2 x 35.2 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
Untitled, 2021, oil on linen, acrylic and gesso on linen, 112 x 155 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
A Portrait of a Fat Man (After Robert Campin), 2022, oil on linen, 28 x 26 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 14, 2022, oil on linen, 42 x 55.5 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
Untitled, 2023, oil on linen, 30.5 x 24.5 x 2.5 cm, 43.5 x 37.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on herringbone linen, 24.5 x 26.5 x 2.5 cm, 37.5 x 39.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, carbon on paper, 48 x 42 cm, 52 x 46 x 3 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, carbon on paper, 47.7 x 41 cm, 51.7 x 45.6 x 3 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on linen, 111 x 71 x 3 cm, 123.6 x 84 x 6 cm with frame
Portrait of the Artist’s Son III, 2023, oil on herringbone linen, 65 x 55 x 3 cm. Courtesy: Pelaires Gallery; photograph: David Bonet
Untitled, 2023, carbon on paper, 65.5 x 54 cm. Courtesy: Pelaires Gallery; photograph: David Bonet
Recent Painting (6 Leaves), 2022, oil on linen, 40.2 x 35.2 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
Michel Majerus (from the Albrecht Fuchs photograph), 2022, oil on linen, 48.4 x 38.4 x 3 cm, 63.4 x 53.4 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2021, acrylic on linen, 185 x 145 x 2.7 cm
Mantegna's Dead Christ, 2022, sunlight on paper, 58 x 79.5 cm, 62.5 x 82 x 2.5 cm with frame
Untitled, 2022, oil on canvas, 50.4 x 40.4 x 3 cm, 65.4 x 55.4 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2022, oil on linen, 56.2 x 42.0 x 3 cm, 71.2 x 57 x 6 cm with frame
German Afternoons No. 9, 2022, oil on linen, 54.2 x 50.3 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 2, 2022, oil on linen, 45.2 x 40.2 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 11, 2022, oil on linen, 48.2 x 44.1 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons, 2022, machine embroidered cotton duck, 224 x 310 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 12, 2022, oil on linen, 35 x 30.3 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 6, 2021–22, oil on linen, 38.5 x 42.5 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton