Visually, Oliver Vernon’s paintings draw upon an incredibly varied pool of influences, from abstract expressionism to post-pop surrealism and the polished finish of figurative realism. Formally, his work is about the deconstruction and hence the necessary reconstruction of visual space. From this central dichotomy, many others emanate: logic / illogic, physical / metaphysical, imprisonment / liberation.
Oliver Vernon was born in New York in 1972. He received his BFA from Parsons School of Design in 1995.
Vernon draws inspiration from his metropolitan surroundings in New York, and the great early surrealists such as Miro, Matta and Ernst, and painters of the mid 20th century, including Motherwll, Kline, Pollack, Mitchell and Dekooning, Vernon’s early work began displaying modernists inspirations that yielded novel, fantastical possibilities for capturing form and movement.
His paintings come to us, perhaps, as detailed snapshots of the few primordial milliseconds when the blueprint of the universe was being sculpted from the final throes of chaos. In this sense, anything goes. Each painting has its own set of rules, or rather, the rules are bent, broken, and ultimately formed within each painting.
Color, form, energy, architecture, good, evil, flesh, and machine are lurking, never as physical entities, but as transient archetypes searching out their final places within the framework of the cosmos. Apart from this macro view, Oliver’s work can be seen at the micro level as well. We can view his paintings as representations of how the mind is formed from a foundation of thought, reason, and aesthetics, and how these entities are simultaneously at odds and interconnected.
His move from Brooklyn, NY to Grass Valley, CA in 2010 changed his relationship with nature, and nature changed his relationship with his work. In this new partnership with his surroundings, Vernon’s work presents new visualizations of interdependent organic and humanity-constructed environments. Using multiple layers and planes of space, his paintings capture both macro and micro views of worlds in convergence – a dance between man-made infrastructures and the origins of life.
He has exhibited his work in cities across the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, and Chicago. He has also exhibited in London and Toronto. His work is part of numerous collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Oliver Vernon lives and works in Grass Valley, California.
EDUCATION
1992-1995 BFA, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
1990-1992 University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Message Board, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Danmark
2019
KIRK Gallery, Brushing away the Veil
Mirus Gallery, Denver (USA), “Awaken the Chrysalis”
2018
KIRK Gallery, “With or Without” med Christian Calabro
2013
Renegade Trajectories, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY
2012
Tilt, David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, CO
2011
Sprung, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY
2010
Oscillation Throttle, Meta Gallery, Toronto, Canada
New Works, David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, CO
2009
Double Down , Irvine Contemporary Art Gallery, Washington DC
New Works, David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, CO
New Works on Paper, Meta Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Unexpected Occurrences, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY
2007
Macro/Micro, Irvine Contemporary Gallery, Washington DC
Oliver Vernon, Microcosm Gallery, New York, NY
2006
Infinity Within, Lineage Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2005
Live Paintings Remixed, Jan Larsen Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
Modern Mantra, Lineage Gallery, Burlington, VT
2004
Far, Spector Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
Art Herning, KIRK Gallery, Danmark
2024
Urban Fractions, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Danmark
2023
Urban Fragments, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Danmark
Refractions, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Danmark
2022
Urban Currents, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Danmark
Out in the Open, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Danmark
One Step Further, The Chambers Project, November
2020
Inside Out, KIRK Gallery, Danmark
2017
North International Art Fair, Danmark, KIRK Gallery
Scope International Art Fair, Basel, Schweiz, KIRK Gallery
2016
Scope International Art Fair, Miami, Alexander Chambers Gallery
2015
Context International Art Fair, Miami, Fifty24MX Gallery
2014
Momentum, Mars-1 and Damon Soule, Space Gallery, Denver
2013
Cosmic Terrain, Show Mars-1, Damon Soule, Petaluma Arts Center, CA
An Inaugural Group Exhibition at Joshua Liner Gallery, New York
2012
artMRKT Contemporary & Modern Art Fair, Bridgehampton, NY
Summer Group Exhibition, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY
2010
Further, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY
SCOPE International Art Fair , David B. Smith Gallery, New York, NY
2009
Street/Studio Group Exhibition, Irvine Contemporary Gallery, Washington
Group show, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Harley Davidson presents The Art of Rebellion, the Bergamot Station Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA
Aspect:Ratio Group Exhibition, Irvine Contemporary Gallery, Washington
Group show, David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, CO
2008
Aspect: Ratio, Small-Format Paintings, Irvine Contemporary Gallery,
Washington DC
Mapmakers an Inaugural Group Exhibition, Meta Gallery, Toronto
Uncorked, Urban Angel, London, UK
365, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Groundwork II, Foundation One Gallery, Decatur, GA
Locked & Loaded, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY
Limited Addiction: Anniversary Group Show, Limited Addiction Gallery, Denver, CO
Group show, MicroCoSM Gallery, New York, NY
2007
Saturnalia: Festival of Gallery Artists for the Winter Season, Irvine Contemporary Gallery, Washington DC
Josh Keyes og Oliver Vernon, Limited Addiction Gallery, Denver, CO
Claimin Space – Context and Urban Art: A Visual Arts Exhibition for the 2007 Bumbershoot Arts Festival på BLVD Gallery, Seattle, WA
Oliver Vernon og Damon Soule, Boulevard Projects, Seattle, WA
Elevation, Limited Addiction Gallery, Denver, CO
Group show, Lineage Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2006
Mescalito, White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005
Identity Crisis, Lineage Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Convergence, The Showroom NYC, New York, NY
Minds Wide Open – traveling exhibition, Light Space Gallery, Venice, CA/ Around The Coyote Gallery, Chicago, IL/ Microcosm Gallery, New York, NY
2001
The Armory Show, Modern Culture Gallery, New York, NY
2000
Start! , Modern Culture Gallery, New York, NY
