Celebrated abstract painter explores the visual possibilities of cross-cultural aesthetics and expression through large-scale geometric works
June 18, 2020
STANFORD, CA–In the Stanford tradition of providing a home for art and artists who advance dialogue on contemporary issues, the Anderson Collection at Stanford University will welcome visual artist Eamon Ore-Giron to campus for the 2020-2021 Presidential Residency on the Future of the Arts.
“The Anderson Collection seeks to be a destination for discourse around modern and contemporary art by raising voices that offer diverse lenses on its history and how our collection can play a role in understanding the course of American art,” said Jason Linetzky, director of the Anderson Collection. “As a painter, Eamon Ore-Giron combines architectural shapes—circles, triangles, arches, rectangles—in bold colors and interlocking compositions. His approach is also one of intersections: across media, cultures, identities, generations and geographies. We are delighted to collaborate with the Institute for Diversity in the Arts to bring this dynamic artist and thinker to our gallery spaces and classrooms.”
Ore-Giron’s work draws on motifs from indigenous and craft traditions alongside aesthetics from the 20th-century avant-garde. His paintings and use of geometric figures bring to mind early Modernist movements, such as Suprematism, Futurism and the Color Field painters of the New York School.
“Something I’ve been interested in is this idea of Pan-Americanism, an aesthetic rooted in the Americas that moves forward and generates discussion globally but is also aware of its past,” Ore-Giron said when his mural Angelitos Negros was commissioned for Made in L.A. 2018, the Hammer Museum’s biennial exhibition.
His work, which also spans sculpture, video and collaborative performance, is included in the public collections at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Pérez Art Museum Miami, among others. He also serves as assistant professor of painting and drawing at California State University, Bakersfield.
The artist, who is based in L.A., will have access to the rich intellectual resources of Stanford’s campus while engaging with students, faculty and the community over the course of the fall, winter and spring quarters. The residency will culminate in an exhibition of Ore-Giron’s work in spring 2021, giving new context to objects already on view at the Anderson Collection.
Ore-Giron will lead a virtual panel discussion in October 22, exploring how the work of artists of color is framed in institutional settings and will organize a two-part curated film series with the first session taking place in October 29 and the second session taking place in November 12. More programs will be announced throughout the academic year, including student engagements and a panel discussion. Updates will be available at anderson.stanford.edu and by email newsletter.
Eamon Ore-Giron. Infinite Regress CXIX, 2020. Flashe on linen. 102 x 84 in.
Those interested are invited to learn more about Ore-Giron and his work by attending a virtual conversation between the artist and Diana Nawi, co-artistic director of Prospect.5, the New Orleans-based international triennial exhibition, on Thursday, June 25 at 4:00pm PDT. The conversation, hosted by Friends Indeed Gallery, will mark the opening of Conspirateurs, the first solo presentation of all new paintings by Ore-Giron in the San Francisco Bay Area. Registration and more details are available here.
Ore-Giron’s placement follows four prior Stanford Presidential Residencies on the Future of the Arts, which were initiated in the 2018-19 academic year to support renowned artists working across disciplines to inform the next generation of creative practice. Past recipients of the residency are poet and playwright Inua Ellams, musician Nitin Sawhney and visual artists Kahlil Joseph and Kerry Tribe. In addition to participating in public events and student programs, Joseph incubated the two-channel video projection BLKNWS at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford and Tribe organized joint installations at the Cantor and Anderson Collection.
“Presidential Residency artists have played an important role in helping us reconsider how we understand and value history,” said Linetzky. “In this context, Ore-Giron’s time at Stanford will provide an opportunity for critical conversations about how we use art to progress as a society in this moment.”
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Beth Giudicessi
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Anderson Collection at Stanford University
