Talenthouse

I mostly paint in oils, draw and make watercolors. I also make short videos.

While the text below was written to sell a donated painting, I thought this text from a charity auction is a good summation of what I do.

Robert Olsen’s stunning small-scale paintings depict an American caught in the buzzing glow of neon and fluorescent lighting. From their flat surface texture to the lifelessness of his depicted scenes, Olsen’s paintings are cloaked in a veil of artificiality. An additional artificiality is found in the rigid structure of Olsen’s production, for while his paintings vary slightly in dimensions they all have an identical surface area. This strategy feeds into Olsen’s skill in mobilizing commonalities. The gas stations, pool tables and bus shelters Olsen renders are not specific ones per se but rather just general proxy stand-ins. Olsen has achieved a continuation of many of Pop Art’s more crucial ideals, but has totally inherited them into generating his own distinct project of interest.

Location United States

Bio education

BFA California College of the Arts (1998)
MFA University of California, Los Angeles (2002)

partial exhibition history

2010
- Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects (in progress)

2009
Foundations: Anthony Goicolea and Robert Olsen, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver, Canada

Interiority Complex, Artist Curated Projects, Los Angeles, CA (group)

The Last Hours of the New Day, Susanne Vielmetter Berlin Projects, Berlin, Germany

2008
Bottles +, Plane Space, New York, NY

Salon, Ars Libri, Boston, MA (group)

Weekend Warrior, Nathan Larramendy, Ojai, CA curated by Beautiful/Decay

2007
Utopias: Robert Olsen and Adam Ross, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Los Angeles, CA

• http://robertolsenart.com