VIV OWEN
(b. 1970 Bury, UK)
Viv Owen creates vivid freehand oil paintings depicting expressive faces sourced from the twitching dazzle of paused TV screens, including reflections, glitches and blurs, sometimes matte black edges suggesting the television as object. The paintings hint at enigmatic narratives and relationships: alluring or confrontational, fascinating and evocative.
Born in Bury, Lancashire, Viv gained her BA at Bradford College, and MA at Leeds Metropolitan University (Leeds Beckett University). Working and exhibiting with artists’ studio groups since graduating, she moved to her own studio space in 2011: A14 Westgate Studios, Wakefield. Notable solos: ‘Display’ (2014) Cupola Gallery Sheffield, ‘Pause/Play’ (2019) The Project Space, Westgate Studios, Wakefield during Index Fringe Festival, ‘42 Sketchbooks’ (2018) Electric Angel Gallery, Scarborough, showcasing her Daily Drawings project, January 2012-present.
Viv’s latest exhibitions are ‘A Splash of Colour’ Bowery Visual Arts, Leeds with fellow painter Helen Field, and ‘FLUX’ at The Design District, Greenwich Peninsula, London, June 2022.
Last (2013)
Close (2012)