News
Served on panel for DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH)
RTHK radio interview, Hong Kong Heritage 2020-09-05
Artmap, April 2020 Gallery Guide
Time Out, 6 artists’ studios you need to know in Fo Tan
Artnews, Habitat: Studio Visits With Artists in Hong Kong
Reuters TV newsclip, Hong Kong's 'holey' skyscapers
South China Morning Post, Eric Niebuhr finds unexpected moments of poetry in Hong Kong's urban landscape
RTHK radio interview, Hong Kong Heritage 2015-12-06
Biography
Born in La Marque, TX in 1972, American-Australian-Hong Kong artist Eric Niebuhr has lived in Houston, London, Los Angeles, Sydney and Hong Kong before moving to Washington DC in August 2021. He has shown nationally and internationally, including the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and the Jewish Museum in San Francisco. In addition to receiving reviews in numerous publications, including Artforum magazine and The Los Angeles Times, he has had interviews in Artnews, The South China Morning Post, Reuters TV, and a RTHK radio program on Hong Kong Heritage.
Statement
My paintings are based on gouache, watercolor, and computer-aided studies of my own or found images. I use acrylic paint with a combination of mediums to create pooled areas of paint against atmospheric passages and flat forms. I often have an emotive or conceptual direction in mind but hope to create images that lend themselves to indefinite readings. I am interested in the abstract formal qualities of color, line, shape, texture, and composition that the image source and paint material offer, as well impressions on the psyche and visuals that may be evocated.
The last few completed series and works were based on my time spent in Hong Kong from 2012-2021. A site-specific work, “Ebb and Flow” was inspired by tidal pools that existed in the area before land reclamation. The “TPC” paintings series referenced trolley pushcarts used for transporting goods and rubbish on the street. The improvised use of materials to bundle objects on the carts became the composition source in the paintings. The “Dragon Holes” paintings were formally and thematically inspired by a unique Hong Kong architectural feature, “dragon holes”; a Feng Shui design concept for a building to have a passage (hole), to allow a dragon to pass through freely.
Since moving to Washington, DC I have taken in the sights and experiences of living here. The subtle light shifts throughout the days and seasons have made an impression on me. While observing light and shadows through trees cast through a window onto a wall on a particular quiet night, I was inspired to start a series of paintings that deal with the phenomena of closed eyes hallucinations. These current works-in-progress are derived from photographs I've taken of darkened walls that initially and seemingly appear black, but through photo editing reveal unexpected spaces, colors and forms.
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Education
2000 MFA, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA
1996 BFA, University of Houston, Houston, TX
1996 Exchange Program, Chelsea School of Art and Design, London, England
Public Collections
2023 University of Wollongong College, Hong Kong
Public Art Commissions
2021 Ebb and Flow, Public artwork created for Sustainability Art Hub, a community arts organization in Hong Kong
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2020 Twisted and Tangled, Art Supermarket, Hong Kong
2018 A Juxtaposition in Fate(Iv Chan and Eric Niebuhr), Art-at-Residence, Hong Kong
2015 Dragon Holes, Ka Kee Gallery of Objects, Hong Kong
2014 Transience, Emma Fordham and Eric Niebuhr, Emma Fordham Studio, Hong Kong
2012 The Devotionals, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2011 Not Found, MOP, Sydney, Australia
2007 Stan Kaplan and Eric Niebuhr, Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2006 Lonely and Free, Spring mural for Marvimon, Los Angeles, CA
2005 Still Missing, Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003 Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2002 Eric Niebuhr and Sam Prekop, Mixture Contemporary Art, Houston, TX
2001 Goldman Tevis, Los Angeles, CA
2000 Peggy Phelps Gallery, Claremont, CA
1997 Kwaigetsudo and Brown Sweater, Purse Building Studios, Houston, TX
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 WOA: Works of Art! (Part 1), The Stallery, Hong Kong
2019 WOP: What’s on Paper, Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong
2018 The Paddock II: Posted, JCCAC, Hong Kong
2017 Guest Star, Devin Borden Gallery, Houston, TX, US
2015 Fotanian Open Studios, Hong Kong
2014 Crackers, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong
2013 Eternity, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney
Low Relief, curated by Connie Anthes, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney
2012 Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize (Highly Commended), Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Sydney
Five Bells: A Visual Ode to Sydney, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney,
Australia
Michael Callaghan: Merchants of War (tribute), Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney
2011 Under the Willow (curated by Virginia Wilson), Flinders Street Gallery, Sydney
Crude, Index, Sydney, Australia
2007 Hammer museum at 20th Century Fox Studios, Los Angeles, CA
2006 Plans to Take Over the World, Between Two Rocks Gallery, Los Angeles
Impression/Isms Contemporary Impressions, City of Brea Gallery, Brea
Volta Show2, ULTRA BRAG, Basel, Switzerland
2005 Gallery Group Show, Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles
LA, Lucas Schoorman Gallery, New York, NY
2004 100 Artists See God, curated by John Baldessari and Meg Cranston,
Cinncinati Museum of Art , Laguna Museum of Art, The Jewish Museum
(San Fransisco), ICA (London)
2003 Road Trip, Margaret Thatcher Gallery, New York, NY
Artissima 10, Internazionale Dart Contemporanea A Torino, Torino, Italy.
2002 21 Paintings from LA, Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum, San Bernadino, (catalogue)
Road Trip, Murray Guy, New York
Gallery Group Show, Goldman Tevis, Los Angeles, CA
Glamour Trip So Soon Will Slip, Sheehan Gallery, Walla Walla, WA
2001 Scary Scary, Andrew Shire, Los Angeles, CA
Saccharin, Wayward Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Texas National, The Art Center, Nacodoges, TX.
2000 Currencies. Patricia Correia Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
The Poster Show, Cabinet Gallery, London, England
1999 HOME/WORK, Factory Place Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Ply, A Collaboration of Graduate Schools, Art Center Graduate Galleries, Pasadena, CA
XCXL: exquisite corpse extra large 20th anniversary invitational,
Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
tiny tiny, Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA
1998 The Texas Show, ABC No Rio, New York, NY
1997 Self-Obsessed and Sexee is a Song by Sonic Youth, Small Projects Gallery, University of
Houston, TX
1996 Art Goes to City Hall, City Hall, Houston, TX
1995 Cross City Blowout, mobile drawing exhibit in moving van, Houston, TX
Bibliography
Balmain, Justin. Catalogue essay for Eric Niebuhr: Not Found. October 2011
Byloos, Matthew. Eric Niebuhr at Goldman Tevis. smalldoggies.com/art, January 2002.
Davenport, Bill. Incredible Shrinking Art Show. Houston Art Letter #38, October 1996.
Davenport, Bill. Eric Niebuhr at Purse Building Studios. Houston Art Letter #46, February 1997.
Davis, Lillian. London Review. Glasstire, January 2005.
Devine, John, Eric Niebuhr and Sam Prekop. Artlies, Fall 2002
Dewan, Shaila. Dumb and Dinky. Houston Press, December 26, 1997.
Grover, Andrea. Mirror Mirror on the Wall. sidewalk.com, November 20, 1997.
Rachel Campbell-Johnston, Faith, hope, and parody. Times Online, November 24, 2004.
Klassmeyer, Kelly. What Would Niebuhr Do? Houston Press, September 2002.
Knight, Christopher. Under Cover in the Abstract, Los Angeles Times, October 3, 2002.
Lai, Olivia. 6 Artist Studios You Need To Know in Fo Tan, Timeout, March 29, 2019
Little, Elizabeth. Reviews: Eric Niebuhr. http://thenearandtheelsewhere.blogspot.com, October 2011
MacDonald, Fleur. MOP: Charles Deninngton, Eric Niebuhr, & Nicola Smith.http://www.sixtoeight.net/. October 2011
McMahon, Katherine. Habitat: Studio Visits With Artists in Hong Kong, Artnews, July 2017.
Miles, Christopher. Eric Niebuhr. Artforum, February 2002.
Orden, Abraham. Circus without a Tent, Artnet February 2005.
Polina and Skene. “Set of Hong Kong Inspired Paintings by Eric Niebuhr” http://www.stylebyasia.com/set-of-hong-kong-inspired-paintings-by-eric-niebuhr/ January 2014.
Siemssen, John. Its the Donut and Cupcake Show! Public News, April 30, 1997.
Tsui, Enid. “Eric Niebuhr finds unexpected moments of poetry in Hong Kong’s urban landscape”, South China Morning Post.
Wolifson, Chloe. “Review: Low Relief” http://www.dasplatforms.com/writing/review-low-relief. January 2014.
Young, Paul. 21st Century Fox, Artnews, June 2007.