Kaz Oshiro is a Japanese-American artist based in Los Angeles, CA. His work resides between painting and sculpture, creating uncannily realistic objects that have ranged from a full-size replica of a dumpster to a mini fridge adorned with stickers, however, through the use of stretcher bars, canvas, and paint. His work has been exhibited at museums and galleries including Apex Art, the Swiss Institute and the Asia Society and Museum in New York, the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, the Orange County Museum of Art, UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the Royal Academy in London, and Veletrzni Palace in Prague. His work appears in Lifelike, a group show at the Walker Art Center, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, and the Blanton Museum of Art. Oshiro is represented by Rosamund Felsen Gallery in Santa Monica, California and in Paris by Galerie Frank Elbaz.

Biography

Born 1967 in Okinawa, Japan, Oshiro emigrated to the United States in 1986 and studied at California State University, Los Angeles, graduating with a BA in 1998 and an MFA in 2002.

Artwork

Oshiro's work rides the fine line between sculpture and real life objects. What may initially appear to be an everyday fast food trash can or a set of guitar amplifiers, a closer look will reveal to viewers that the piece itself is merely a painting on a custom stretched and created canvas. Complete with details made to resemble time and human's impact on these objects (i.e. markings to resemble scratches and tears, dust, etc.), his work uses a realist technique for the paintings to blend seamlessly into its placed environment.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Public Collections

Fonds national d’art contemporain, Paris Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, CA The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, Miami, FL The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, UT Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA Peter Norton Family Foundation, Santa Monica, CA Rubell Museum, Miami, FL Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE Zabludowicz Collection, London