ART

Master painter and printmaker Nathan Oliveira is renowned for exploring personal subjects that link to broader themes of the human condition. Endowing his work in both two- and three-dimensions with a tactile quality that underscores the intimacy of his explorations, Oliveira’s prodigious output over almost fifty years has earned him a well-deserved reputation as one of American art’s key figures.

Although art historians have tended to define Oliveira as a representative of the Bay Area’s figurative school, his work has extended into many other subjects as well. This exhibition, curated especially for the Thompson Gallery, features a comprehensive display of monotypes, paintings, and sculptures that are part of his Site works.

These are individual pieces that may suggest specific geographic or topographic places but yet are images that arise from the artist’s imagination, referencing visceral or ancestral impressions, memories, and associations. Warm colors and emblematic imagery draw the viewer in, enabling each of us to experience the grounding that such sense of place can provide. Drawn almost entirely from the artist’s own collection, this special display will honor the compelling expressions of Nathan Oliveira’s remarkable and extensive career.