Oliver Wagner

They always become something else

Void_Melbourne

05 - 28 October 2023

Oliver Wagner experiments with labour, speculation and volatility to examine notions of skill, care and chance. Drawing from the history of painting, Wagner employs house paint rendered into dust as his primary medium for both permanent and ephemeral works. This involves two approaches, one being cascades of house paint dust, named “Reconstructed Paintings” and gestural compositions where the dust is brushed off the picture plane, named “Removed Paintings.” Wagner’s outcomes are often unexpected, contrary to his imagination that often leave him no choice but to accept them.

Oliver Wagner is a Swiss Australian Artist who lives and works on Gadigal Land/Sydney. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours 2015, and a Master of Fine Arts 2017 at The National Art School in Sydney. His work has been shown in local and international exhibitions in Sydney, New York, Tokyo and Paris, including the 2021 Tarra Warra Biennial, Healesville; the 2018 Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize at National Art School Gallery, Sydney; Rate of Change, 2018 at COMA, Sydney; the Subtle Art of Defiance, 2019 at Cross Art Projects, Sydney, as well as four solo exhibitions, 2019–23 at Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney. Wagner’s work is held in collections in Australia and Switzerland, including The National Art School Collection, Sydney, and Artbank Australia.