Rick Oginz has been making sculpture and drawings for over 5 decades. Inspired by science, technology, and his immediate surroundings he explores the major events and innovations that are unique to our lifetimes. Oginz uses pop iconography and the commonplace object to examine modern and timeless modalities of transportation, communication, and identity. Within the work there is a strong trend towards describing his immediate surroundings. Oginz is currently residing in Oakland California and several series of his current work reflect the life and industry of that region. There is a tremendous range of imagery in his drawings and sculptures including, iPhones, flat screen TVs, container ships, engines, cyclotrons, drones, SUV’s, human organs, 9/11, and the earth as seen from space. These are images and objects that have become the icons of our era.
While the content of his work is significant to its identity, his vision is driven by vivid imagination. Oginz articulates spaces and gives life to the inanimate. Manipulation of scale is central to his work; he juxtaposes the minute with the infinite. There is an inherent sense of humor in the work, for example: a flat screen TV fabricated from wood that depicts San Francisco’s skyline with a cluster of drones overhead or The Cyclotron Series of drawings where Oginz speculates what might happen if he built a particle accelerator in his studio. The artist has created a symbiotic relationship between drawing and sculpture and most of his exhibitions consist of both. Many compositions operate within the context of an interior space, often the artist’s studio. Windows, screens, and pictures incorporated in imagined environments serve to generate multi-dimensional worlds. Oginz says, “The studio interior is a metaphor for my mind, and I consider the interplay of interior and exterior as a reference to the subjective and the objective.” Interior views characterize his drawings but do not comprise the entirety of the artist’s works on paper. Many drawings are emblematic, in that a single iconic image such as a hand holding a cell phone, a pelvic bone, or the front of a SUV is seen alone.
The sculptures represent similar themes but have a commanding physicality. Many of the artist’s sculptures have an interactive component. The viewer is invited to engage with the piece by pushing or pulling a sculpture that is animated in unexpected ways by its wheels rotation. Some pieces have a distinct interior and exterior and the viewer can open doors or pull out a drawer. Oginz is a multi-media artist who applies his sophisticated understanding of materials to his art making and constantly integrates new techniques into his process. Playfulness comes through in the construction and kinetic aspects of the artist’s work. As a maker Oginz seeks to convey his observations of the ever – changing landscape of our species’ progression.
While the content of his work is significant to its identity, his vision is driven by vivid imagination. Oginz articulates spaces and gives life to the inanimate. Manipulation of scale is central to his work; he juxtaposes the minute with the infinite. There is an inherent sense of humor in the work, for example: a flat screen TV fabricated from wood that depicts San Francisco’s skyline with a cluster of drones overhead or The Cyclotron Series of drawings where Oginz speculates what might happen if he built a particle accelerator in his studio. The artist has created a symbiotic relationship between drawing and sculpture and most of his exhibitions consist of both. Many compositions operate within the context of an interior space, often the artist’s studio. Windows, screens, and pictures incorporated in imagined environments serve to generate multi-dimensional worlds. Oginz says, “The studio interior is a metaphor for my mind, and I consider the interplay of interior and exterior as a reference to the subjective and the objective.” Interior views characterize his drawings but do not comprise the entirety of the artist’s works on paper. Many drawings are emblematic, in that a single iconic image such as a hand holding a cell phone, a pelvic bone, or the front of a SUV is seen alone.
The sculptures represent similar themes but have a commanding physicality. Many of the artist’s sculptures have an interactive component. The viewer is invited to engage with the piece by pushing or pulling a sculpture that is animated in unexpected ways by its wheels rotation. Some pieces have a distinct interior and exterior and the viewer can open doors or pull out a drawer. Oginz is a multi-media artist who applies his sophisticated understanding of materials to his art making and constantly integrates new techniques into his process. Playfulness comes through in the construction and kinetic aspects of the artist’s work. As a maker Oginz seeks to convey his observations of the ever – changing landscape of our species’ progression.
RESUME
Born: Philadelphia,1944
Studio - Sonoma, California
B.F.A. 1966 Tyler College of Art and Design of Temple University,
Philadelphia, PA.
M.F.A. 1968 University of Wisconsin, Madison
Gregory Fellowship, 1970-1973 University of Leeds, U.K.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 LA Artcore Center, Los Angeles, Ca.
2014 Refusalon Gallery, San Francisco, Ca.
2012 Studio Exhibition, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2008 Studio Exhibition, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2005 Lois Lambert Gallery and The Gallery of Functional Art,
Santa Monica, Ca.
2001 Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca.
1999 Lois Lambert Gallery and Gallery of Functional Art, Santa Monica, Ca.
1997 Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
“Richard Oginz, Drawings from a Sculptor’s View”, Los Angeles, Ca.
1995 Sam Francis Gallery, Crossroads School, Santa Monica, Ca.
1993 Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca.
1992 Library Gallery, Glendale Community College, Glendale, Ca.
1991 Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca.
1984 Art Space Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca.
1983 ARCO Center for the Arts, Los Angeles, Ca.
1980 Molly Barnes Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca.
1973 Design Arts Gallery, Drexel University, Philadelphia Pa.
1973 Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds U.K.
1971 Serpentine Gallery, London, U.K.
1971 University of Bradford, Bradford, U.K.
1970 AIA Gallery, London U.K.
1970 Park Square Gallery, Leeds, U.K.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015 Refusalon Gallery, San Francisco, Ca.
2011 Edward Day Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2011 Mon Ton Window Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2010 Mon Ton Window Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2009 Drive Buy Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2008 Sculptor’s Drawings Recent Acquisitions, Henry Moore Foundation,
Leeds, U.K.
2005 Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, Ca.
2005 Fisher Art Museum, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Ca.
2002 Art Gallery of Pasadena Community College, Pasadena, Ca.
2001 Art Gallery of Glendale Community College, Glendale, Ca.
2000 Del Mano Gallery, Brentwood, Ca.
1997 Millard Sheets Gallery, Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, Ca.
1996 Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, Ca.
1995 Sam Francis Gallery, Crossroads School, Santa Monica, Ca.
1994 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Reinstallation of the sculpture “Head” Los Angeles, Ca.
1993 Municipal Art Gallery of The City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Ca.
1992 Los Angeles County Museum of Art,” Maurice Tuchman – Masks”
Los Angeles, Ca.
1992 Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Santa Monica, Ca.
1991 City of Los Angeles Gallery – “Artspace”, Woodland Hills, Ca.
1990 Gallery of Functional Art, Santa Monica, Ca.
1989 San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, Ca.
1989 Mobillia Gallery, Cambridge, Ma.
1988 Gallery of Functional Art, Santa Monica, Ca.
1988 Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Il.
1987 Security Pacific Bank Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca.
1986 USC School of Architecture, University of Southern California,
Los Angeles,Ca.
1985 Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University, Orange, Ca.
1985 Paula Salvadore Gallery, New York City, New York, Ny.
1984 Municipal Gallery of the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Ca.
1981 – 1983 “Art Made in Downtown LA”, Traveling Exhibition –
Madison Art Center, Madison, Wi.
Illinois State University, Normal, Il.
Addison Gallery, Phillips Academy, Andover, Ma.
Norman MacKenzie Gallery, Un.of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, Ca.
Nickle Arts Museum, Un. Of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1980 Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, Ca.
1980 Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, Md.
AWARDS
1971 – 73 Gregory Fellowship, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.
1979 Young Talent Award, Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
Los Angeles, Ca.
TEACHING
2009 –2013 Seneca College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2005 –2006 University of California, Los Angeles,
Los Angeles, Ca.
2001-2006 Louisville High School, Woodland Hills, Ca.
2002 -2005 Pierce Community College, Woodland Hills, Ca.
1999 –2001 Glendale Community College, Glendale, Ca.
1995 -1996 Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences, Santa Monica, Ca.
1976 -1995 Otis College of Art and Design, Professor of Sculpture,
Los Angeles, Ca.
1973 -1976 Hornsey College of Art, Head of Sculpture, London, U.K.
1971 -1973 University of Leeds, Gregory Fellow of Sculpture, Leeds, U.K.
1968 – 1976 Part Time Lecturer, Hornsey College of Art, Chelsea School of Art, Whimbeldon College of Art, Maidstone College of Art, Portsmith Polytechnic, London School of Printing
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles Ca.
Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds U.K.
Henry Moore Foundation, Leeds U.K.
Bradford Museum, Yorkshire U.K.
Yorkshire Art Association, Yorkshire U.K.
Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston-upon-Hull, U.K.
London Borough of Camden, London, U.K.
Fisher Art Museum, University of Southern California, Los Angeles Ca.
Arts Council of Great Britain, London U.K.
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
1988 Junipero Serra State Office Building, Elevator Doors,
4th and Broadway, Los Angeles, Ca.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barbara Tober, OBJECT LESSONS, 2001 Guild Inc., Illustration page 89
Bud and Arloa Gloldstone, WATTS TOWERS, 1997 The Getty Conservation Institute, illustrations pages 17-18 text pages 17-27
Maurice Tuchman, MASQUERADE, Chronicle Books, 1993,
illustration page 95
Claudia Betti, Tel Dale, DRAWING, A CONTEMPARY APPROACH, Holt Rhinehart & Winston, 1987 illustration and text page 107
Bruce Davis, RICHARD OGINZ, DRAWINGS FROM A SCULPTOR’S POINT OF VIEW, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1997
Suzanne Munchnic, UNOTHODOX, LA Times 1997
Jillian Palethorpe, RICHARD OGINZ, DRAWING FROM A SCULPTOR’S POINT OF VIEW, Topanga Messenger, March 1997
Dan Mazor, THE OPEN AND SHUT WORLD OF RICK OGINZ, Topanga Messenger, September 2005
Jillian Palethrope, AMERICAN TOTEMS, Topanga Messenger, July 2001
Don Lagerberg, NEWCOMERS, LA Times, November 6 1977
Susanne Munchnic, NEWCOMERS, LA Times, November 5 1977
Joan Hugo, SIX DOWNTOWN SCULPTORS, April 1981
Peter Clothier, RICHARD OGINZ, Art News, May 1991
Pamela Hammond, NARRATIVES OF ISOLATION, Artweek, November 1984
Joan Hugo, DREAMS OF GAMES AND FIGURES, Artweek, October 1987
Mac McCloud, COFFEE TABLE INTRIGUES, Artweek July 1983
Peter Plagens, BEE-BOP DA REEBOK in LA, Art News, April 1985
Susanne Munchnic, LOS ANGELES DRAWING EXHIBITION, Art News April 1997
William Wilson, OGINZ EXHIBITION OFFERS A SCULPTOR’S VIEW ON LA, LA TIMES March 15 1997
Robert Pincus, THE GALLERIES, LA Times November 1 1984
Pamela King, YOUNG TALENT AWARDS, LA Herald Examiner July 15 1979
