Bay Area painter Eric Zener is known for his American realism and use of bold colors to depict his ongoing interest with our collective relationship nature.
The self-taught, Marin-based artist has painted for more than three decades. And while his body of work focuses on various elements of the great outdoors – trees, sky, and landscapes, Zener always finds himself drawn to the water. Paintings of a bikini-clad woman gliding in a pool, just-disturbed water emitting bubbles of various sizes, a single man doing a summersault off what we can only assume is a diving board just out of view – all of which reinforce how Zener, as his websites states, sees “our relationship with water as an allegory for refuge, renewal, and joy.”
Ahead of Zener’s solo exhibition in New York City later this year (more on this below), we talk about what inspires him, how art buying has changed over the last 30 years, and why water remains a consistent theme in his work.
What inspires you to start a piece?
I think that creation is something that’s just built on over a long period of time. I’ve been doing this for 40 years now so it’s hard to really point to one particular thing that might cause something to start the creation process – it’s more of a continuum. That being said, I do think that each piece sort of builds on the next, so they kind of inform one another as you go along. Life obviously also gets in there as well – music, film, whatever happens to you along your path.
Is there one person or thing that gave you the confidence to become an artist?
As a kid I had a pretty influential grandmother, Orel Zener, who was a prolific painter. I have a lot of pretty deep memories of hanging out with her and seeing her studio, all of her paintings and all of her shows. She had a pretty big impression on me as a kid.
I wasn’t particularly great as an artist as a kid, but I did have an appreciation for it as a young person. And then when I graduated from college, I really got into art as a cathartic thing. It was something that just made me happy, but it wasn’t something that I was pursuing necessarily as a vocation – it was just something that I really enjoyed doing.
And then it kind of just sort of took on a path of itself. I started getting into galleries and having shows, and I made the decision in my early 20s that art was something I just wanted to pursue and see where it would take me. And here I am now, almost 60.
Which artist or artists inspire you?
I have many artists over the years that I have been drawn to. For me it is sort of like music – some days I am really into a certain band or genre, and then that can change to something different depending on my mood. That said, I do tend to gravitate to artists that don’t do anything like me. I am a big fan of Gerhard Richter, Anslem Kiefer, Kehinde Wiley, and other artists that change and take risks.
Why do you think water is a consistent theme in your work?
I would point back to what I was saying before, that paintings and inspiration piggyback on other ideas and other paintings. One painting will inform another painting and it’s hard sometimes to really pinpoint exactly what causes one inspiration to move on to another piece.
That being said, water just as a concept has been a big part of my life. I grew up surfing in San Diego, and growing up around the water has been a big part of my experience.
As an analogy, there’s this transformational experience I think that we all kind of have when we’re around water. It’s both nostalgic and brings us back to our past as children as being free and happy. Likewise, it’s both exhilarating and femoral – it can take us away from the trappings of daily life, but at the same time, it can be scary.
As your artwork focuses primarily on nature, have you found that climate change and its effects on the landscape is in any way reflected in your paintings?
The environment is my muse – the water, the land. It is deep in me and where I find refuge as a person and an artist. I do, however, refrain from putting any politics or statements about my work out there. That said, nature is a gift to be cherished.
How long have you had your studio in Sausalito?
I’ve been in my studio in Sausalito for about 18 years. I actually grew up in north San Diego and then went to college in Santa Barbara. I traveled a bunch after that, lived in Los Angeles for a little while, and then moved to the Bay Area in the early 90s.
Do you think that art buying has changed in the past 40 years?
Yes. There’s been an evolution in how people can find, learn, and collect art. Twenty or 30 years ago, everything was really based on your relationship with your gallery, your dealer, and that was pretty much a brick and mortar kind of relationship. Now with the internet, and with designers and art fairs, the business landscape has changed and broadened, which I think is good for everybody.
And how much of your work would you say is commissioned?
I would say maybe 25% is commissioned. The rest is gallery shows and art fairs.
Speaking of gallery shows, do you have any upcoming exhibitions our readers should know about?
Yes! I have my annual show at Gallery Henoch in New York City in October. They’ve been my primary dealer for about 25 years and I have a yearly show with them, either in the spring or fall.
This exhibition is sort of a new body of work – it’s nonfigurative and looks at how water is a metaphor for our emotional state. There’s large scale oceanscapes, some that are really turbulent and very intense, and other paintings that are very calm and placid. I’m super excited about the show and to see what people think.
