Oliver studierte in London Kunst und hatte dort bereits mehrere erfolgreiche Ausstellungen, darunter zwei Porträts bei der Royal Academy Summer Show 2002 (eines davon ist hier unten zu sehen – Marie). Seit er nach Ibiza gezogen ist, malt er weiterhin fleißig und hat jedes Jahr erfolgreiche Ausstellungen in zahlreichen Einrichtungen der Insel wie dem Pacha, El Club Diario de Ibiza, das damalige B12, im Hotel OD Talamanca, im Kulturzentrum in Jesús und im Restaurant Sushi Point.
Ausstellungen:
2002 wurden zwei Porträts bei der Royal Academy Summer Show aufgehängt: „Sarah“ und „Marie“.
Oliver nimmt jedes Jahr am „RCA Secret“ teil, einem geheimen Verkauf von Postkarten.
In den letzten Jahren hat Oliver Einzelausstellungen in London und Ibiza veranstaltet und ist seit 2014 auch im IbizArt Guide vertreten.
2012: Ausstellung @ Jeannie Avent Gallery, Dulwich, London
2013: Ausstellung in der Galerie B12, Ibiza
2014: Ausstellung im Nachtclub Pachá, Ibiza
2015: Ausstellung @ Sushi Point, Ibiza
2015: Ausstellung @ Atzaro, Ibiza
2016: Ausstellung @ OD Hotel Talamanca, Ibiza
2017: Ausstellung @ Casa Colonial, Ibiza
2018: Ausstellung @ Ocean Drive, Ibiza;
2018: Ausstellung im Restaurant Es Jardins, Ibiza
2019: Ausstellung im Club Diario de Ibiza
2020: Ausstellung @ Scoop, London
2021: Ausstellung im Kulturzentrum Jesús, Ibiza
Kollektivausstellungen im Kulturzentrum Jesús 2016-2020
Ibiza Art Guide 2014-2020
Best of Ibiza 2019 (Buch)
Weitere Werke:
Die ersten vier Fotos (oben) zeigt sein Werk im Entstehen (Binsengewächse/Gräser). So ebenfalls das fünfte.
Oliver kann auch anders: Frühes Ölgemälde „Venedig im Morgennebel“ 1998.
„Blau & Rot“: 14 Leinwände in zwei Serien, die er vor seinem Haus aufgereihte. So entstanden im Morna Tal die Serien „Interior“ (blau) und „Exterior“ (rot). Die eine Serie sei für Sarah und andere für Steve, seinem Vater. „Die dunkelblaue Interior-Serie spiegelt meinen Trauerprozess um meinen Vater wider. Es gibt natürlich eine Traurigkeit und Dunkelheit. Es gibt aber auch Lichtblitze, Funken von Energie, die sowohl meine schönen Erinnerungen als auch seine Energie widerspiegeln, die mich jetzt umgibt und die ich stärker spüre als je zuvor, als er noch lebte“, beschreibt der Künstler seine Werke. „Die hellere Exterior-Serie reflektiert, wie ich mich angesichts der turbulenten, lebensverändernden Nachricht fühlte und auch immer noch fühle, die Sarah erhielt. Es herrscht Chaos und Verwirrung, aber letztendlich auch Überleben, Liebe und Licht.“ Das Innere ist das Verborgene, das Komplexe, das Geheimnis. Das Äußere ist das öffentliche Gesicht, so Oliver.
Werk ganz unten „Marie“: Eines der Porträts bei der Royal Academy Summer Show 2002.
English Version:
About emotions & life
Oliver has been living in Ibiza since 2013 with his partner Sarah, son Jean-Jacques and beloved french bulldog, Gypsy.
Oliver studied art in London and held several successful exhibitions there, including having 2 portrtaist at the 2002 Royal Academy Summer show (One is shown here – Marie). Since moving to Ibiza he has continued to paint prolifically and has held successful exhibitions every year in the islands most lucrative and high-profile establishments such as Pacha, El Club Diario de Ibiza, B-12, OD Talamanca, Centre Cultural de Jesus and Sushi Point. In addition Oliver is a regular in the Ibiza Art Guide and and also featured in a one-off book entitled ‚Best of Ibiza’.
His style has developed over the years post his initial studies in London. From traditional still-life observation and portraits he gradually settled on a defined abstract style where colour, texture and the expression of the theme became the driving factors of the pieces.
„At the Whitgift School in South London I was taught the fundamentals by the wonderful Henry Maslin and Derek Melotte. They were talented artists in their own right and even better teachers. They taught me how to draw still-life fruit and a cat and a person; a portrait. Then they encouraged me to express myself and move away from representing what I could see, to showing what I was feeling.“
Oliver now paints in the American modern style epitomised by the painters Rothko and Cy Twombly. He paints in large format and the palate is tonal. Usually, but not exclusively, paintings are in series – meaning that he thinks of a theme that is relevant or has been forming in his mind for some time. Some examples of this include “Insomnia” and ‘Amnesia” both of which troubled Oliver in 2016-2018 when his family went through a very difficult time.
„2016 was a heinous year for my family. First of all, in May we were told that my partner had breast cancer. It felt like a cliff edge moment at the time. We went to the edge and fought back. And we continue to battle now. Then at the end of 2016 like some sort of fitting cap to the end of the year, my father passed away on Christmas Eve.
I never really took the time to reflect on either. There never seemed the right time.
More important things to do with time when it came to the cancer; a strangely out of reach emotion when it came to my father. I never properly grieved.
For 6 months I had no creativity, I couldn’t paint. Nothing. There was nothing. Then suddenly one summer evening in 2017 the dam burst. I gathered as many canvases as I had to hand and painted like a madman for 2 weeks solid. I painted 14 canvases in 2 series. (see the photos of paintings lined up outside my house)
There are two series, one for Sarah, one for Steve.
The dark Interior series reflect my grieving process for my father. There is a sadness and darkness of course. There are also flashes of light, sparks of energy that are both my fond memories and also his energy that surrounds me now and that I feel more strongly than at any point when he was alive.
The brighter Exterior series are a reflection on how I feel about the turbulent, life changing news my partner received last May. There is chaos and confusion, but ultimately survival, love and light.
The Interior is the hidden, the complex, the secret. The Exterior is the public face.
I hope you enjoy these paintings, ultimately they are paintings about emotion, about life, yours to interpret in whichever way they affect you.”
Other series Oliver has painted include:
Insomnia – is a condition the artist suffered with earlier in life and the pieces included here from that series reflect the chaotic restlessness that the condition manifests in the sufferer. Merlin takes this difficult subject and creates dark beauty from it.
The Amnesia pieces talk to a feeling of déjà vu, also of losing and narrowly missing people and figures from ones life. The blurry atmospheric quality hints at people we once knew whom we may have forgotten, or have passed on and are at once out of reach.
The Rushes series are more romantic in comparison and were painted for the show at Casa Colonial in a reflective mode. They grey’s and pinks are reminiscent of Monet.
Oliver is now embarking on a major new project, less troubled and more glossy and inspired by Ibiiza’s night life, skies and bright lights. Watch this space and get in touch to find out more….
Kontakt zum Künstler:
oliver@latitude38.co.uk
