Eric White (artist)
Encyclopedia
Eric White is an American artist, who currently lives and works in New York, NY. He graduated with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design
in 1990.
“One can hardly look at it for very long, as the precision with which it is painted does not allow for one specific focal point. These paintings go against the commonly appreciated aesthetic that encourages the viewer to take in the piece in an orderly fashion and instead almost forces the observer to look away. He uses what we often find in photography and creates dreamlike paintings with what he calls “hyper-anal” technique (Roston,1).
In 2009, White took part in STAGES, a global art exhibition to raise funds and awareness for the fight against cancer. Lance Armstrong
and Mark Parker
invited White to participate, and to create a work which related to the theme of cancer and included the color yellow. The show premiered at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris, opened in New York at a Jeffrey Deitch pop-up space, and concluded in Miami during Art Basel
. Other participating artists included Ed Ruscha, Richard Prince, Tom Sachs, Raymond Pettibon, Andreas Gursky, and Shepard Fairey.
In 2010, White received an artist fellowship in painting from the New York Foundation for the Arts
.
In September 2010, White and Tim Biskup
held an exhibition at All Tomorrow's Parties
inspired by Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
. "If excellent music, literature and classic films inexplicably aren’t your bag, ATP offers other visual stimuli: Tim Biskup and Eric White collaborate on paintings and prints based around a high-concept (and possibly imaginary) television program."
His work is in the collections of Mark Parker, Leonardo DiCaprio
, David Arquette
and Courteney Cox
, Patricia Arquette
, Peter Farrelly
, Viggo Mortensen
and Gail Zappa
.
Culture critic Carlo McCormick
writes, "For all its passages of radical distortion, poly-perverse morphism, and darkly subversive portraiture, Eric White’s art is essentially grounded deeply in the recognizable world. [...] Obsessively crafted in a digital age of endlessly reproductive domains, an unself-conscious idiosyncrasy of our rampant interconnectivity, Eric White paints for the global village idiot that is all of us today. [...] Inasmuch as White takes his cues from pre-war Hollywood’s idealization of women to paint his 'perfect female as quasi-religious icon,' he maintains a fluid discursive relationship with time itself, arguing that if, by our attention spans, a half century constitutes ancient history, it is in fact only a blink in the eye of time. But he does something far more profound than confronting the relativity of time. What White is really after is a way to disassemble the false architecture of the self" (McCormick 13,15).
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
in 1990.
“One can hardly look at it for very long, as the precision with which it is painted does not allow for one specific focal point. These paintings go against the commonly appreciated aesthetic that encourages the viewer to take in the piece in an orderly fashion and instead almost forces the observer to look away. He uses what we often find in photography and creates dreamlike paintings with what he calls “hyper-anal” technique (Roston,1).
Work
On November 20, 1999, Santa Monica's Track 16 Gallery held White's exhibition "Motion Pictures," which saw him switch from acrylic to oil paint. In a review of the show from LA Weekly, Peter Frank wrote that "His dream-state scenes, full of puzzled faces, double-images, anachronisms and attenuated unlikelihoods are painted with a vertiginous exactitude, its wooziness enhanced with bilious colors, weird superimpositions, and a tendency to render everything a little wobbly and elongated—El Greco goes suburban."In 2009, White took part in STAGES, a global art exhibition to raise funds and awareness for the fight against cancer. Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
and Mark Parker
Mark Parker
Mark Parker is Nike, Inc.'s third CEO, after William Perez resigned in January 2006 citing differences with his predecessor as CEO, Phil Knight....
invited White to participate, and to create a work which related to the theme of cancer and included the color yellow. The show premiered at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris, opened in New York at a Jeffrey Deitch pop-up space, and concluded in Miami during Art Basel
Art Basel
Art Basel is an international contemporary art fair held each June in Basel, Switzerland. Similar to the Venice Biennale, it has been called "the Olympics of the art world". Art Basel features nearly 300 leading galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa...
. Other participating artists included Ed Ruscha, Richard Prince, Tom Sachs, Raymond Pettibon, Andreas Gursky, and Shepard Fairey.
In 2010, White received an artist fellowship in painting from the New York Foundation for the Arts
New York Foundation for the Arts
The New York Foundation for the Arts was created in conjunction the in 1971. The organization gives grants to individual artists and writers and developing arts organizations with a mission to '.'-NYFA's Programs:...
.
In September 2010, White and Tim Biskup
Tim Biskup
Tim Biskup is an American artist generally considered to be a part of the group that has been dubbed "lowbrow" or pop surrealism...
held an exhibition at All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by The Velvet UndergroundAll Tomorrow's Parties may also refer to:* All Tomorrow's Parties , an annual festival in England...
inspired by Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is an American sketch comedy television series, created by and starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, which premiered February 11, 2007 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim comedy block and ran until May 2010...
. "If excellent music, literature and classic films inexplicably aren’t your bag, ATP offers other visual stimuli: Tim Biskup and Eric White collaborate on paintings and prints based around a high-concept (and possibly imaginary) television program."
His work is in the collections of Mark Parker, Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
, David Arquette
David Arquette
David Arquette is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer, and occasional professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the mid 1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, such as the Scream series, Wild Bill and...
and Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox is an American actress, she is best known for her roles as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends, Gale Weathers in the horror series Scream and as Jules Cobb in the ABC sitcom Cougar Town, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination....
, Patricia Arquette
Patricia Arquette
Patricia T. Arquette is an American actress and director. She played the lead character in the supernatural drama series Medium for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series....
, Peter Farrelly
Peter Farrelly
Peter John Farrelly is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist. The Farrelly Brothers are mostly famous for directing and producing gross-out humor romantic comedy films such as, Dumb and Dumber, Me, Myself and Irene, There's Something About Mary and The Heartbreak...
, Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...
and Gail Zappa
Gail Zappa
Gail Zappa was the second wife of the late musician and composer Frank Zappa and is the executrix of the Zappa Family Trust. They met in 1966 when she was working at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, and they were married on September 21, 1967, while she was pregnant with her first child, Moon...
.
Culture critic Carlo McCormick
Carlo McCormick
Carlo McCormick is a culture critic and curator living in New York City. He is the author of numerous books, monographs and catalogues on contemporary art and artists.-Pedagogic Activity:...
writes, "For all its passages of radical distortion, poly-perverse morphism, and darkly subversive portraiture, Eric White’s art is essentially grounded deeply in the recognizable world. [...] Obsessively crafted in a digital age of endlessly reproductive domains, an unself-conscious idiosyncrasy of our rampant interconnectivity, Eric White paints for the global village idiot that is all of us today. [...] Inasmuch as White takes his cues from pre-war Hollywood’s idealization of women to paint his 'perfect female as quasi-religious icon,' he maintains a fluid discursive relationship with time itself, arguing that if, by our attention spans, a half century constitutes ancient history, it is in fact only a blink in the eye of time. But he does something far more profound than confronting the relativity of time. What White is really after is a way to disassemble the false architecture of the self" (McCormick 13,15).
Publications
- Who Are Parents? By Eric White. (2005, Perceval Press; ISBN 0974707872)
- It Feeds Itself (hardcover). By Eric White. (2003, Last Gasp; ISBN 0867195479)
- It Feeds Itself (softcover). By Eric White. (2003, Last Gasp; ISBN 0867194839)
- Blue Folds Of Skin. By Eric White. (1999, Smart Art Press; ASIN: B0006RN7ZC)