OSCAR TUAZON

Inspired by paper marbling techniques, the artist uses pigments to create fluid patterns, capturing the movement of water through color. The pigments are treated as sculptural elements, interacting with their environment. A series of scale model fountains, made of concrete, branches, and steel, combine brutalism with natural elements, offering sculptures that oscillate between transformation and petrification.

Oscar Tuazon collaborates with designers, engineers, and craftsmen to create monumental installations and public commissions, referencing Land Art and Minimalism. Since 2016, he has also developed Water School, an educational and moving project exploring the diverse dimensions of water as a unifying element among people, places, materials, and objects. Primarily using architectural techniques and materials such as steel, glass, or wood, he adopts a do it yourself approach to create structures and installations.

His sculptures are usually quasi-functional objects or models of various spaces; the construction process itself can be seen as a performative part of the work.

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Born in 1975, Seattle, USA. Lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

Oscar Tuazon’s work has been the focus of solo exhibitions by institutions in the USA and in Europe, such as the Kunsthalle Bergen, Bergen (2023); Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld (2023); Kunst Museum Winterthur, Winterthur (2023); Aspen Museum of Art, Aspen (2019); Bellevue Art Museum, Seattle (2019); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2016); Consortium, Dijon (2015); deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln (2014); Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2014); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2013); Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2013); Kunsthalle Bern, Bern (2010); Centre international d’art et du paysage, Île de Vassivière (2009).

His work has been exhibited in numerous group exhibitions around the world, among them the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago (2019); Skulptur Projekte, Münster (2017); Documenta 14, Athens (2017); Triennale d’art contemporain de Beaufort, Beaufort (2015); Whitney Biennial, New York (2012); Venice Biennale, Venice (2011).

He has been selected for several public commissions, in 2016 with the project Un Pont, for the Nouveaux Commanditaires of the Fondation de France, Belfort and in 2013 with People, Public Art Fund, Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York. In October 2017, FIAC gave him carte blanche to present an in situ project Une colonne d’eau, on the prestigious Place Vendôme, Paris.

Work by the artist is held in the following collections: MoMA, New York; Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles; Zabludowicz Collection, London; Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; David Roberts Art Foundation, London; FRAC Île-de-France, Paris; Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris; Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich; Migros Museum of Contemporary Art, Zürich; Saatchi Gallery Collection, London; Giuliani Foundation, Roma; The Silvie Fleming Collection, London.