Born in St. Louis, MO, 1935
Education
MFA, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 1963
BFA, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL 1958
Lives and works in Oakland, CA
Selected One-Person Exhibitions
2023
Oliver Lee Jackson: Works on Paper, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, NY
2022
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, NY
2021
Oliver Lee Jackson, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
Oliver Lee Jackson: Any Eyes, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa County, CA
Oliver Lee Jackson: Vibrato, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Oliver Lee Jackson, Malin Gallery, Aspen, CO
2020
Oliver Lee Jackson: Selected Works, Malin Gallery East at Hangman, Calverton, NY
2019
Force Field, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Oliver Lee Jackson: Recent Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
2018
Oliver Lee Jackson: Someplace Else, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2017
Oliver Jackson: Composed - Works from 1984 to 2016, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
2014
Oliver Lee Jackson: Paintings, Sculpture, Works on Paper, 425 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
Oliver Lee Jackson: Paintings and Works on Paper, 555 California Street, San Francisco, CA
2012
Front Room: Oliver L. Jackson, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
2011
b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA
2008
University Art Gallery, University of Hawai'i at Hilo Nu-Art Series Studio, St. Louis, MO
2007
Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2006
Oliver Jackson: Drawing/The Incised Line, Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2002
Duo (a collaboration with Marty Ehrlich), Sert Gallery, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2000
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Oliver Jackson: Recent Paintings, Sculpture and Work on Paper, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
Oliver Jackson: Recent Paintings and Work on Paper, Wiegand Gallery, College of Notre Dame, Belmont, CA
1999
Porter Troupe Gallery, San Diego, CA
1998
Oliver Jackson—Additions: Collage and Drawings, Artists Forum, San Francisco, CA
1997
The Figure Revealed, 425 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
Paintings, Sculpture, Works on Paper, 1978–1996, Porter Troupe Gallery, San Diego, CA
1996
Porter Troupe Gallery, San Diego, CA
Oliver Jackson: The Incised Line, Artists Forum, San Francisco, CA
1995
San Marco Gallery, Dominican College, San Rafael, CA
1994
Oliver Jackson: Paintings & Sculpture, Porter Randall Gallery, La Jolla, CA
1993
Oliver Jackson: Works on Paper, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
New California Art: Oliver Jackson, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA
Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
1992
Bomani Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1991
Oliver Jackson: New Paintings, J. Noblett Gallery, Boyes Hot Springs, CA
Oliver Jackson: Paintings and Sculpture, Porter Randall Gallery, La Jolla, CA
1990
St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
1989
Oliver Jackson: Painting, Drawings, and Sculpture, Iannetti-Lanzone Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1988
Gallery Nine, University of Illinois, Champaign
Oliver Jackson: Ten Year Survey, Iannetti-Lanzone Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1987
Oliver Jackson: Recent Works on Paper, De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
Oliver Jackson: New Work, Liz Harris Gallery, Boston
1985
Harris-Brown Gallery, Boston, MA
University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
Rena Bransten Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1984
Reed College Art Gallery, Portland, OR
Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1983
Matrix Gallery, University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
1982
Kirk deGooyer Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1981
C. N. Gorman Museum, University of California, Davis, CA
1980
Allan Stone Gallery, New York Artists Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
1979
Bixby Gallery, Washington University School of Fine Art, St. Louis, MO
1977
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Artspace, Sacramento, CA
Florida Technical College, Orlando, FL
1973
The Gallery of the Loretto-Hilton Center, Webster College, Webster, MO
1970
Compton College, Compton, CA
Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1969
Contra Costa College, San Pablo, CA
1968
South County Bank, St. Louis, MO
1967
Red Balloon Gallery, St. Louis, MO
1965
Oliver Jackson: Paintings, Prints, Drawings, Downstairs Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Together..., Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, AR
2022
Lines of Thought: Gestural Abstraction in the BAMPFA Collection, University of California, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate, Rena Bransten Gallery and Casemore Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Beautiful Black, Assemblage, Lincoln, NE. Travelled to: Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum, Clarinda, IA
The Cumulative Effect / Curated by John Yau, Songwon Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Coming Home Coming Home, Stanley Museum of Art, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Claiming Space: Refiguring the Body in Landscape, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA
2021
Our Whole, Unruly Selves, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Art Along the Rivers: A Bicentennial Celebration, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
Shady Beautiful, Malin Gallery, New York, NY
The Incorrect Museum: Vignettes from the di Rosa Collection, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
2020
Expanding Abstraction: Pushing the Boundaries of Painting in the Americas, 1958-1983, Blanton Museum, University of Texas, Austin
2019
American African American, Phillips Auction House and Gallery, New York, NY
Gallery Artists, Burning in Water, New York, NY
Building a Different Model: Selections from the di Rosa Collection, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
Five and Two Others, curated by Mildred Howard, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2018
Into the Woods, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Way Bay 2, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
The Portrait Show, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Way Bay, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
2016
Dimensions of Black: A Collaboration with the San Diego African Art Museum of Fine Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA. Travelled to: Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis
Connect & Collect, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, CA
Inaugural Exhibition, East Wing, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Master Printmakers Invitational Exhibition, East Hawaii Cultural Center/Hawaii Museum of Contemporary Art, Hilo, HI
2013
Form and Expression: The Written Word, Center for Book & Paper Arts, Columbia College, Chicago. Travelled to: Brunnier Museum, Iowa State University, Ames
2012
Lee Chesney, Oliver Jackson, Albert Paley: Monoprints and Other Works, id Space Gallery, Hilo, HI
2011
Safety in Numbers?, Portland Art Museum, OR
Selections from the Smith Andersen Editions Archive, De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
Beyond Tradition: Art Legacies at the Richmond Art Center, Part II, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
2009
African-American Currents, 40 Acres Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2008
African American Abstraction: St. Louis Connections, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
Flashing Back: 1960s Works in the Permanent Collection of the de Saisset Museum, De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
2007
The Drawn Line, Portland Art Museum, OR
2005
Africa in America, Seattle Art Museum, WA
The Anniversary Show, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Intimate Collaboration: 25 Years of Teaberry Press, San Francisco Art Institute, CA
Inaugural Exhibition, Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art, Portland Art Museum, OR
Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
2004
Echoes of Africa, American Adventure Pavilion, Epcot, Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL
Poetry and its Arts: Bay Area Interactions 1954–2004, California Historical Society, San Francisco
2001
Collecting Our Thoughts: The Community Responds to Art in the Permanent Collection, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
2000
Heart of the Future, Part I, Encina Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA
1999
Beyond the Veil: The Art of African-American Artists at Century’s End, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL
Into the 21st Century: Selections from the Permanent Collection, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
1998
MATRIX/Berkeley: 20 Years, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
1997
The Painter’s Craft, Reese Bullen Gallery, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Civil Progress: Life in Black America, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA
1996
Cultural Crosscurrents, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA
Rapture, San Francisco State University Art Gallery, CA
1995
American Color, Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA. Travelled to: Porter Troupe Gallery, San Diego, CA
1994
The Exchange Show: San Francisco/Rio de Janeiro, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA. Travelled to: Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Odun de Odun de, Oliver Art Center, California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, CA
The Essential Gesture, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA
1993
Twelve Bay Area Painters: The Eureka Fellowship Winners, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
1992
Spirit Made Visible, University of California, Davis, CA
Casting Light, Acknowledging Shadow, Washington State University, Pullman, WA
1991
Recent Acquisitions, M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
1990
The Intimate Collaboration: Prints from Teaberry Press, Ewing Gallery, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
The Matter at Hand, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Against the Grain: Contemporary Wood Sculpture, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland
Toward the Future: Contemporary Art in Content, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Hilo International Exhibition: Works on Paper, University of Hawaii, Hilo, HI
1989
The Appropriate Object, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Travelled to: Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI; San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA; J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
Marble: A Contemporary Aesthetic, California Museum of Science and Industry, Los Angeles, CA
Selections From the Permanent Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Raymond Saunders: Choices, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
America, Italia, Spagna: Cristoforo Colombo 1492–1992, La Galleria San Benigno, Genoa, Italy
1988
Bay Area Sculpture, Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA
Afro-American Prints & Drawings, Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, MA
Peter Selz Selects, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
1987
California Figurative Sculpture, Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Masters of Color: Contemporary Black American Artists, Robert Hull Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Recent Modern Acquisitions, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
1986
Between Painting and Sculpture, Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA
Works of Art on Paper by Black Artists, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Transitions: The Afro-American Artist, Bergen Museum of Art and Science, Paramus, NJ
American Painting: Abstract Expressionism and After, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
New Painterly Figuration in the Bay Area, San Francisco Art Institute, CA. Travelled to: Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
62nd Annual International Competition of Prints and Photographs, The Print Club, Philadelphia, PA
Between Metaphor and Fact: Recent Drawing, Leonarda Di Mauro Gallery, New York, NY
1985
Artists' Forum, Fine Arts Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles. Travelled to: California State University, Long Beach; Art Gallery, California State University, Fresno; California State University Legislative Reception, Sacramento Community Center, CA
Contemporary California Painting: Oliver Jackson, Mary O'Neal, Raymond Saunders, Art Gallery, California State University, Sacramento, CA
States of War, Seattle Art Museum, WA
Selections from The Rutgers Archives for Printmaking Studios, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University at The Grolier Club, New York, NY
1984
American Sculpture: Three Decades, Seattle Art Museum, WA
The 20th Century: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
Recent Painting and Sculpture 1944–1984, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Human Condition: SFMMA Biennial III, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
San Francisco Bay Area, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
1983
1983 Biennial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1982
Fresh Paint: Fifteen California Painters, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
From the Sunny Side, The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
1980
Mosaic, University of California, Davis, CA
Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, MA
1979
Aspects of Abstract, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
1976
Other Sources: An American Essay, San Francisco Art Institute, CA
1975
Contemporary California Artists: Carlos Gutierrez-Solana, Oliver L. Jackson, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Travelled to: Snowbird Galleries, University of Utah, Snowbird Summer Arts Institute; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
1974
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
1971
Black Untitled II/Dimensions of the Figure, The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
1968
Black Artists Group, St. Louis, MO
1966
Art-in-the-Embassies Program, Washington, D.C.
Peoria Art Center, Peoria, IL
1965
Mid-American Exhibition, Kansas City, MO
1964
Faculty Collection Exhibition, University of Illinois, Urbana
1963
People's Art Center, St. Louis, MO
Awards
2023
Lee Krasner Award for lifetime achievement, Pollock Krasner Foundation, New York, NY
2004
2003/2004 Award for Painting and Sculpture, Awards in the Visual Arts, Flintridge Foundation, Pasadena, CA
1993
Eureka Fellowship Award, Fleishhacker Foundation, San Francisco, CA
1988
Art Matters, Inc., New York, NY
1984
Nettie Marie Jones Fellowship in the Visual Arts, Lake Placid, NY Yaddo Residency, Saratoga Springs, NY
1980
National Endowment for the Arts Award in Painting
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Catalogues
2021
Oliver Lee Jackson. St. Louis: Saint Louis Art Museum, 2021.
2019
Cooper, Harry. Oliver Lee Jackson: Recent Paintings. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2019.
2018
Pincus, Robert. Oliver Lee Jackson: Someplace Else. San Francisco: Rena Bransten Gallery, 2018.
2000
Slaughter, Adele. Oliver Jackson: Recent Paintings, Sculpture and Work on Paper. Fresno: Fresno Art Museum, 2000.
1993
Rivera, George. Oliver Jackson: Essence of the Spirit; Beyond the Surface. Santa Clara: Triton Museum of Art, 1993.
Guenther, Bruce. New California Art: Oliver Jackson. Newport Beach: Newport Harbor Art Museum, 1993.
1990
Millard, Elizabeth Wright. Oliver Jackson. St. Louis: Saint Louis Art Museum, 1990.
1988
The Adelphia Society. A Bid for Human Rights. San Francisco: The Adelphia Society, 1988.
1986
Boettger, Suzaan. New Painterly Figuration in the Bay Area. Arcata, CA: Reese Bullen Gallery, Humboldt State University, 1986.
1982
Albright, Thomas, and Jan Butterfield. Oliver Jackson. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1982.
Museum and Public Collections
The Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Detroit Institute of the Arts, Detroit, MI
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA
The Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Portland Art Museum, Oregon, WA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO