Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, Oregon) is an American photorealist artist best known for figure paintings of lone subjects, often in or about swimming pools.

 

Zener is a self-taught artist. As of 2004 he had created more than 600 works. His paintings, mostly in oil, are in a photorealist or "super-realist" style Zener describes as "Contemporary Renaissance".

 

In 2003, while living in the Costa Brava region of Spain, Zener became interested in watching bathers, and began a series of paintings of water, and of people interacting with water. Many paintings from this period depict women swimming underwater amidst air bubbles, or diving into the water, and have been described as reminiscent of Hudson River School and Barbizon School painters.

Born

 

1966 Astoria, Oregon

 

Education

 

1988 University of California, Santa Barbara, BA

 

Solo Exhibitions

 

2010 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2010 Dieffe Arte Contemporanea, Turin Italy
2010 Persterer Fine Art, Zurich, Switzerland
2009 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Gallery Henoch/New York, NY
2009 S.C.A.P.E, Los Angeles, CA
2008 Gallery Henoch/New York, NY
2008 Spur Projects, Woodside, CA
2008 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 Hespe Gallery, San Fransicso, CA
2007 Gallery Henoch/New York, NY
2006 Hespe Gallery/Bank of America, San Francisco, CA
2006 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2005 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2005 S.C.A.P.E., Los Angeles, CA
2004 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2003 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2002 Gallery, Henoch, New York, NY
2002 Diane Nelson Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2002 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2001 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2000 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2000 Casa Forestal, St. Marti de Empuries, Spain
1999 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, C
1997 California Arts Concil, Sacramento, CA
1997 Alfabia Museum, Sumoto, Japan
1997 Galleria Prova, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1995 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1994 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1990 Gerald Steven’s Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

 

2010 Lanoue Fine Art, Boston, MA
2010 SF Art Fair, SF, CA
2010 Bergamo Art Fair, Italy
2010 Alden B. Dow Museum, Mildland, MI
2010 Bolinas Musuem
2010 Hespe Gallery, SF,CA
2010 Turner Caroll Gallery, SF, NM
2010 Dallas Art Fair
2009 Persterer Fine Art, Zurich, Switzerland
2009 Lanoue Fine Art, Boston, MA
2009 Blue Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2009 Palm Beach Art Fair, FL
2008 LA Art Show, LA, CA
2008 Art Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
2008 SF MOMA, Contemporary Art Auction, SF, CA
2007 LA Art Show, LA, CA
2007 Red Dot Fair, NY, NY
2007 Bridge Fair, Chicago, IL
2007 Art Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
2006 Chicago Art Fair, Chicago, IL
2006 SF MOMA, Contemporary Art Auction, SF, CA
2006 Bridge Fair, Miami, FL
2006 Art London, London, England
2006 Art 20, Park Avenue Armory, NY, NY
2006 Juxtaposition – Gallery Henoch
2006 Art Miami, Miami, FL
2005 Art Chicago, Chicago, IL
2005 Chicago Art Fair, Chicago, IL
2005 Realism Invitational, Jenkins Johnson, SF, CA
2005 Art20, Park Avenue Armory, NY, NY
2005 USArtists, 33rd Street Armory, Philadelphia, PA
2005 San Francisco International Art Fair, SF, CA
2005 Art Miami. Miami, FL
2004 Klaudia Marr 11th Realism Invitation, Santa Fe, NM
2004 USArtists, 33rd Street Armory, Philadelphia, PA
2004 Art of the 20th Century, Park Avenue Armory, NY, NY
2004 Susan Street Fine Art, San Diego, CA
2004 World Rehabilitation Fund, NY, NY (auction)
2004 Hearts of San Francisco, SF, CA (auction)
2004 Museum of Modern Art, SF, CA (auction)
2004 SCOPE-LA, Hollywood, CA
2003 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2003 US Artists, Philadelphia, PA
2003 Art of the 20th Century, NY
2002 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2002 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2002 Art of the 20th Century, NY
2001 Diane Nelson Fine Art, Laguna, CA
2001 DNFA, Pasadena, CA
2001 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2001 Laguna Art Museum, Laguna, CA
2001 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2000 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2000 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2000 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2000 Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA
1999 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
1999 Trinity Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1998 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998 Trinity Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1998 The Gap Corporate Headquarters,
San Francisco, CA
1997 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 Galeria Prova, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1995 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1995 SF MOMA, Docent’s Auction, SF, CA

1994 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1994 Gallery Fuzee at Spectrum, San Francisco, CA
1993 Gallery Fuzee at Spectrum, San Francisco, CA
1992 Gallery Savah, Sydney, Australia
1991 Gallery Savah, Sydney, Australia
1990 Gerald Steven’s Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
1990 Installations One, Los Angeles, CA
1989 Otis Parsons Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA
1989 Installations One, Los Angeles, CA
1988 Installations One, Los Angeles, CA

 

Selected Awards

 

II Beca Primavera de L’Ajuntament de l’Escala,
International Juried Competition,
Residency and Exhibition, 2000
Palm Springs Desert Museum, 31st Annual
National Juried Exhibition, April 2000
New American Paintings, #19, December 1998

 

Selected Corporate & Public Collections

 

W Hotel, New York, NY
Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, NJ
JRC Enterprises, Malibu, CA
Miniatuur Museum, Amsterdam, Holland
L’Ajuntament de l’Escala, Spain
Walt Disney Corporation, Burbank, CA
Banana Republic, San Francisco, CA
Alfabia Museum, Sumoto, Japan
Wyndham Hotel, Atlanta GA
Berrett Koehler Publishing, San Francisco, CA
Handmade Software Inc., Fremont, CA
Logitech Corporation, Newark, CA
McLaughlin Capital, San Francisco, CA
Goodwill Industries
Wellington Management Co., Boston, MA
Iquantic, San Francisco, CA, Boston, MA
Helio Solutions, San Jose, CA