About Viv Owen

Event: Pause/Play Solo Exhibition

Dates: July 31, 2019 - Sept. 1, 2019

Vivid freehand oil paintings convey the twitching dazzle of expressive faces captured from paused TV screens. In the Project Space, viewers encounter a grid of paintings in which their eyes can wander at leisure and play with fresh narratives: conflicts, romances and relationships hinted at in the arrangement of images.

This was an epic 7 years in the making, utilizing paintings from several different image cycles. I took the rare opportunity to display paintings as a wall reminiscent of a cinema screen or video wall, keeping the rest of the gallery space bare to focus the viewers attention in the same way that cinema does. The grid has no centre painting, due to the even number displayed, so that the eye cannot settle, but instead follows the rivers of colour and dark that are created by the abrupt joins where one painting butts directly against another. In this way I made them jostle for our attention in the familiar pattern of a busy social media feed or ubiquitous billboards.

Event: FLUX exhibition

Dates: March 14, 2019 - March 17, 2019

"FLUX has established itself as the platform for contemporary artists to be discovered and to be part of an exceptional, inspirational art event. The show represents an opportunity to gain access to a vast and diverse group of gifted artists, on the path to being the big names of tomorrow, showcasing international talent in a collaborative, inclusive show. FLUX celebrates artists on the precipice of wider accolade and fame."

Event: Bradford Open

Dates: Feb. 10, 2019 - May 5, 2019

Curated competition open to artists born, living, or working on Bradford.

Event: Human

Dates: Nov. 23, 2018 - Jan. 5, 2019

Curated group show responding to the theme "Human"

Event: 42 Sketchbooks

Dates: Aug. 10, 2018 - Sept. 30, 2018

Daily Drawings since 01 January 2012 - displayed together for the first time.

Event: FLUX exhibition at Chelsea College of Art, London, April 2018

Dates: April 11, 2018 - April 15, 2018

The most exciting art exhibition!

Event: Solo

Dates: Jan. 31, 2018 - March 28, 2018

Solo show

Event: Open Studios

Dates: Sept. 27, 2017 - Sept. 27, 2017

Open Studios for Artwalk Wakefield 5-9pm
The regular bi-monthly night out for culture in Wakefield - the last Wednesday of January, March, May, July, September and November.
Always lots to see: pop in!

Event: Original 200

Dates: Sept. 1, 2017 - Oct. 14, 2017

"This exhibition puts forth the premise that it is possible to buy an 'orignal' artwork for £200"

Event: Sketch It Out

Dates: Aug. 5, 2017 - Aug. 18, 2017

'Tag team' sketchbook project by the Unit 9 group. Artists with diverse practices (photography, printmaking, drawing, painting, textiles) joined together by sharing sketchbooks from one to another, making a response to the previous image. This exhibition shows the results.

Event: FLUX

Dates: July 12, 2017 - July 16, 2017

FLUX Exhibition is a groundbreaking and new kind of art event – a collection of the most dynamic painters, performance artists and musicians, which presents an alternative way to encounter today’s best new art.
Hosted by the Chelsea College of Art and curated by Lisa Gray founder of FLUX, this fourth much anticipated edition of FLUX brings 70 artists to the fore. Gray will be selecting the very best emerging talent for a five day interactive art event.
Gray says “FLUX is a unique experience for both artists and art lovers. Each artists work is considered so it does not compete with other work but stands alone and shines in its own light..."

Event: Portraits

Dates: July 6, 2017 - July 20, 2017

Four artists show

Event: Timeline

Dates: March 29, 2017 - April 29, 2017

Solo show

Event: Light View

Dates: March 4, 2017 - April 2, 2017

Solo show

Event: Portraits

Dates: Feb. 23, 2017 - March 5, 2017

Group show on the theme of portraits

Event: Pancakes and Booze London

Dates: Feb. 17, 2017 - Feb. 17, 2017

"As you may have guessed, we are an art show, but we are not your typical art gallery. Since 2009 we've been filling the best venues in over 30 cities around the world with your favorite local artists, photographers, bands, and DJ's. We focus on keeping the work on display local and original to help artists of all types sell their work while they're still alive (why does it take dying to gain recognition?). Each show usually features between 50-150 local artisans, a unique lineup of live musicians and/or DJs, live painting, body painting, along with other forms of entertainment. Oh, and of course PANCAKES!

We seek to bring the art community and those outside the community together by creating an upbeat art show that appeals to the masses. Through the shows we create an environment where artists, potential buyers, and pancake fanatics alike can make connections with several different types of people within their own communities." - Pancakes and Booze

Event: FLUX exhibition 3

Dates: Nov. 2, 2016 - Nov. 6, 2016

The amazing Contemporary Art exhibition in London

Event: The Grid Art Fair

Dates: Oct. 28, 2016 - Oct. 30, 2016

Art Fair

Event: Man/Woman

Dates: Aug. 6, 2016 - Aug. 20, 2016

Figurative Art

Event: Not the Jerwood

Dates: Aug. 5, 2016 - Aug. 28, 2016

Drawing exhibition

Event: Exhibit Here Summer Show

Dates: July 19, 2016 - July 23, 2016

Group show

Event: On Track

Dates: May 3, 2016 - July 30, 2016

‘On Track’

Track is a set of colourful paintings that deal with the darkest experiences of our lives. Inspired by mass media imagery and its ability to engage our emotions in a safe, socially acceptable way, they can still move us. Perhaps even haunt us...

Event: Exhibit Here's Unleashed

Dates: March 22, 2016 - April 2, 2016

"Exhibit Here's UNLEASHED Exhibition will feature more than 100 wild and innovative artworks that push the boundaries of raw talent, it will also be our third exhibition at the Menier Gallery"

Event: Flood Recovery Art Auction

Dates: March 4, 2016 - March 4, 2016

AN ART AUCTION to raise funds for victims of the Boxing day floods. On Boxing Day the Calder Valley suffered devastating flooding. With an overwhelming response, artists from around the globe have been generously donating their work for an auction to be held on the 4th March. Proxy bids are now being taken. New work is arriving daily, a full online catalogue will be released once we reach the cut off date for donations.

Event: Flood Recovery Art Auction

Dates: March 4, 2016 - March 4, 2016

AN ART AUCTION to raise funds for victims of the Boxing day floods. On Boxing Day the Calder Valley suffered devastating flooding. With an overwhelming response, artists from around the globe have been generously donating their work for an auction to be held on the 4th March. Proxy bids are now being taken. New work is arriving daily, a full online catalogue will be released once we reach the cut off date for donations.

Event: Exhibit Here's Art Maze

Dates: Dec. 16, 2015 - Dec. 20, 2015

Exhibit Here's Art Maze at Bargehouse was an atmospheric group exhibition featuring the work of more than 100 artists who transformed this iconic building into a haunting maze of art for one magical week just before Christmas.

Event: FLUX

Dates: Dec. 11, 2015 - Feb. 14, 2016

Undiscovered Artists in the Spotlight at FLUX at the Royal College of Art
FLUX Exhibition is a groundbreaking and new kind of art event – a collection of the most dynamic painters, performance artists and musicians, which presents an alternative way to encounter today’s best new art.
FLUX has established itself as the platform for contemporary artists to be discovered and to be part of an exceptional, unconventional art event. Hosted by the Royal College of Art in Kensington and curated by Lisa Gray of Gray’s Art Gallery, this second much anticipated edition of FLUX brings 100 artists to the fore. Gray has hand selected the very best emerging talent for a five day interactive art event.

Event: Art Takes Times Square

Dates: July 24, 2014 - July 24, 2014

Art displayed on the electronic billboards of Times Square

Event: Display

Dates: May 30, 2014 - June 28, 2014

"My work consists of colourful paintings that deal with the darkest experiences of our lives. Inspired by mass media imagery and its ability to engage our emotions in a safe, socially acceptable way, they can still move us. Perhaps even haunt us...

All my work is done 'by hand'. I rely on the process of seeing then drawing or painting: no tracing here. I work from edited computer-prints snatched by my camera from a flickering television screen, but the transfer from digital to paint is by observation only.

I use selections and distortions, vibrant colour combinations, and multi-layered textural surfaces to convey the twitching dazzle of the arrested TV picture. I experiment with my works, by exhibiting them in different combinations: reminiscent of a film sequence, or a video wall. I create interactions between the paintings, suggesting the narrative sequence or different viewpoints of the same moment"