Artist Statement

As an artist, I find inspiration in conflicting perspectives. I am interested in the evolution of an individual’s perspective under the pressure and demands of societal ideals. I am interested in the distortions among institutions when the behavior of affiliated individuals opposed the societal norms within that social structure. My work has been created to dissect the individuals perspective by making reference to our self-created environments, and by exploring how the reflexive nature of social action contributes to the formation of personal identity and beliefs. Perspective is nothing more than interpretation, though it is often held as actuality. I occasionally paint in others’ perspectives because the painting’s interpretation of the subject is of no importance, only the idea of perspective.

My work consists mainly of figurative oil paintings in a somewhat narrative, highly subjective style. I tend not to work in series, but instead approach each piece as the end to an idea. The works are informed by my obsessive practice of sourcing and compiling a wide range of representational and abstract imagery from high and low cultures. From the images I produce a kind of painted collage wherein the individual components have been matched and re-matched countless times with different peers until the ideal mates become unmistakable. I work in this way, letting the union of images develop slowly over time so as to be sure everything I’d like to express in the piece is properly represented. My paintings are meant to be read and analyzed. The observer is meant to place themselves in frame to experience the unfolding of a sequence, urging them to make a decision – a decision about the relationship between identifiable social variables like race, religion, income, gender, education, et cetera, and a decision on the outcomes of the individuals within the work. As nature and cultural differences have it, not all viewers will have matching interpretations –  once again serving my interest in conflicting perspectives.

Artist Bio

Eric Kasper was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1987. Receiving no formal art education, his techniques were all self-taught and developed by a desire to explore the depths of the medium. He works predominately in oils, a practice he began in his late adolescence and continues with today. Early influences ranged from Matisse and the fauvists to Klimt, Schiele, and anything else the Nazis wanted destroyed. After his first year of work he was accepted into a respected Phoenix art gallery, and two years later he was featured in a solo Upcoming Artists exhibit at the West Valley Art Museum. In the time since his work has often been displayed in the Arts District galleries of Downtown Phoenix, and paintings of his were chosen to be album covers of highly regarded bands, Boys & Frogs and Emby Alexander. Eric Kasper still lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona.

Selected Exhibitions (*Solo Shows)

2017 Untitled Show, Ice House Gallery, Phoenix
2016 Thermal Phoenix, Thermal Gallery, Phoenix
2016 The Appropriate Show, Sam Poe Gallery, Bisbee
2015 Spirits of the West, Windows Gallery, Bisbee
*2015 Solo Exhibition of Eric Kasper, Shade West, Phoenix
*2014 New Work: 2013-2014, Monorchid, Phoenix
2013 Holy Daze, Monorchid, Phoenix
*2013 The Epoch, Monorchid, Phoenix
*2011 Untitled Show, Lost Leaf, Phoenix
2011 Untitled Show, Lost Leaf, Phoenix
*2010 Untitled Show, Phix, Phoenix
2009 Untitled Show, Fractal Artspace, Phoenix
2009 Untitled Show, Phix, Phoenix
2009 Untitled Show, Lost Leaf, Phoenix
*2008 Emerging Artist, West Valley Art Museum, Surprise
2007 Untitled Show, Gallery Celtica, Phoenix
2006 Untitled Show, Paper Heart, Phoenix

Collections

2014 Private collection, Phoenix, AZ
2014 Private collection, Phoenix, AZ
2014 Private collection, Phoenix, AZ
2013 Private collection, Phoenix, AZ
2007 Private collection, Phoenix, AZ

Media

“The Art of Eric Kasper shocks Bisbee Locals”, Java Magazine – No. 241, 2015, Pg. 19
“Bisbee Art Gallery Closes Amid Controversial Exhibit”, Sierra Vista Herald, November 18, 2015
Online, “How Phoenix Artist Eric Kaspers’ Controversial, Canceled Bisbee Art Show Got a Second                     Chance”, Phoenix New Times, January 8, 2016
Online, “After Controversial Gallery Closing, Kasper Gets Another Chance In Bisbee”, Java Magazine,               December 30, 2015
Album cover, Emby Alexander, “Frontispiece” 2014
Aesthetica Art & Culture Magazine, Issue 50, December/January 2013, Pg. 139
Album cover, Emby Alexander, “Dressed Undressing – Single” 2013
Album cover, Emby Alexander, “Emby Alexander – EP” 2013
Album cover, Emby Alexander, “Drag the Long Way Home – Single” 2012
Album cover, Boys & Frogs, “Rain Dance Snowed In” 2011
Album cover, Boys & Frogs, “In Desperate Need of a Car Crash” 2009
Tempe Starving Artist Magazine, Issue 19, March 2011, pg.13