Oliver Doe

OLIVER DOE

Oliver Doe (b.1994) is an artist, writer and curator whose work considers issues around queer sexuality, gender and relationships.

His transmedia practice operates between minimalist painting, sculpture, the altered object, performance, and the written word to examine queer visibility, represent a trace of the body and generate a sense of absence. Oliver has a particular interest in the ways in which levels of abstraction are manifested between visual culture and queer lives, and the ‘in-between-ness’ of both his practice and identity. His focus predominantly lies on exploring bisexuality as an identity within queer communities.

The paintings use bodily forms reduced and abstracted to planes of distilled colour and form, exploring the changing boundaries of queer bodies and the possibility to recognise the body as a site of queer sexuality. The reductive, minimalized forms reflect the lack of representation in visual culture that is often felt by LGBTQ+ communities, as well as abstract, dysphoric way in which queer bodies are seen.

Within the paintings, positive and negative space become confused, where the abstracted figure and the surrounding space are interlinked but not entirely relative, with multiple figures and spaces overlapping within the image. This reflects a confusion in the nature of the body as the initial site of recognition of sexuality or gender whilst coming to terms with a queer identity.

This ‘confusion’ can, however, create the space for the body to explore new forms, and eventually take on a level of formlessness and greater potential.

Doe’s work also attempts to use queerness to radically undermine and usurp cultural forms, such as High Minimalism, Post-Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism, which have been dominated by a masculine and macho hegemony in the art historical canon.

He has exhibited widely across the UK and shown in the USA since graduating from Newcastle University in 2016, and has works held in several private collections.

Exhibitions at Gallagher & Turner:
Formations
21st March - 27th April 2019