Oliver Osborne’s paintings bring together elements of abstraction, figuration and appropriation. Silk-screens of appropriated cartoons, large multi-panelled monochrome canvases, embroidery and precisely executed, photorealistic paintings are all part of his repertoire. By using this broad visual language he attempts to push against the traditional separation between abstraction and figuration, and understand what potential the act of painting still holds within contemporary art.

A solo exhibition of Osborne’s work is taking place at the Fondazione ICA Milano in 2025.

Oliver Osborne was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1985. He now lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Collections

Oliver Osborne’s work is part of public collections worldwide. These include Aishti Foundation (Beirut), Braunsfelder Family Collection (Cologne), Haubrok Foundation (Berlin), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin) and the Saatchi Collection (London).

Education

Osborne studied at the Royal Academy of Arts (London) and graduated from the Chelsea College of Art (London).

Exhibitions

His work has been featured in exhibitions at Tanya Leighton (Los Angeles), Super Super Markt (Berlin), UNION PACIFIC (London), Tanya Leighton (Berlin), The Bunker (Santa Monica), Galería Pelaires (Palma), Pas une Orange (Barcelona), BRAUNSFELDER (Cologne), Hamburger Kunsthalle (Hamburg), Peles Empire (Berlin), Gió Marconi (Milan), Bonner Kunstverein (Bonn), Moran Moran (Los Angeles), Galerie Max Hetzler (Berlin), Liverpool Biennial and the ICA (London).

Oliver Osborne’s Masterclass in Painterly Discipline
Frieze, review by Mitch Speed, 2022

Interview with Oliver Osborne
Emergent Magazine, interview by Ted Targett, 2022

The Soothing Effect of Oliver Osborne's Paintings
Frieze, review by Moritz Scheper, 2020