Rex Maurice Oppenheimer
Rex Maurice Oppenheimer
Palm Springs, CA, United States
About Rex Maurice Oppenheimer
Rex Maurice Oppenheimer ARTIST and WRITER
Honestly, my story is too long to tell here, so I’ll try to give you an overview. Although I had won awards for my art at a very young age, after I dropped out of high school, and after a deep involvement in the Civil Rights movement, I took off on a wayward journey. Writing, prose and poetry, both of which have garnered me awards, dominated my artistic expression for many years.
That quest, fueled by wanderlust, romanticism and artistic passion, propelled me through a checkered past, which included smuggling pre-Columbian art out of Mexico, writing lyrics in Los Angeles, with songs recorded by Jennifer Warnes, Juice Newton and others, dabbling as a writer in the movie business, working with Liam Neeson and Penny Marshall, vagabonding throughout India and across Asia, and, at one time, living in London’s Belgravia replete with Rolls and chauffer.
It was in 2010, while living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that I began to paint in earnest. I had met the artist Roger Williams, who, after seeing some of my sketches, invited me to his studio. I workshopped with Roger in that beautiful studio a few times, and although brief, I leaned some important basics.
I began painting in oil and concentrated on representational work. Although I love good representational art, and I do find it full of feeling and abstraction, which say more than just the reality depicted, I came to a point that I just found myself creating more abstract work and working mostly in acrylics.
My paintings have been exhibited in a variety of venues, including bG Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Desert, Simon Den Gallery, Cathedral City, and Smith Vargus Fine Art, Palm Springs, as well as galleries in Laguna Beach and Los Angeles, and purchased by private collectors in the United States, Europe and Australia.
Now, as dual French and American citizens, my wife Michele and I have been dividing our time between Palm Springs, California, and France.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
My work reflects observation and feeling about the intersection of ecstatic, instinctual primitive impulse and societal evolution.
I love when images, intended and unintended, appear to the viewer, and then what they see draws something out of themselves.
My art contains a haphazard beauty, which springs from my interaction with the world. I work intuitively and instinctually. The strokes, the colors, the marks on the canvas, lead me on. I am not a technician and not driven by detail or method. I am led by circumstance to what works best for now.
Honestly, my story is too long to tell here, so I’ll try to give you an overview. Although I had won awards for my art at a very young age, after I dropped out of high school, and after a deep involvement in the Civil Rights movement, I took off on a wayward journey. Writing, prose and poetry, both of which have garnered me awards, dominated my artistic expression for many years.
That quest, fueled by wanderlust, romanticism and artistic passion, propelled me through a checkered past, which included smuggling pre-Columbian art out of Mexico, writing lyrics in Los Angeles, with songs recorded by Jennifer Warnes, Juice Newton and others, dabbling as a writer in the movie business, working with Liam Neeson and Penny Marshall, vagabonding throughout India and across Asia, and, at one time, living in London’s Belgravia replete with Rolls and chauffer.
It was in 2010, while living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that I began to paint in earnest. I had met the artist Roger Williams, who, after seeing some of my sketches, invited me to his studio. I workshopped with Roger in that beautiful studio a few times, and although brief, I leaned some important basics.
I began painting in oil and concentrated on representational work. Although I love good representational art, and I do find it full of feeling and abstraction, which say more than just the reality depicted, I came to a point that I just found myself creating more abstract work and working mostly in acrylics.
My paintings have been exhibited in a variety of venues, including bG Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Desert, Simon Den Gallery, Cathedral City, and Smith Vargus Fine Art, Palm Springs, as well as galleries in Laguna Beach and Los Angeles, and purchased by private collectors in the United States, Europe and Australia.
Now, as dual French and American citizens, my wife Michele and I have been dividing our time between Palm Springs, California, and France.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
My work reflects observation and feeling about the intersection of ecstatic, instinctual primitive impulse and societal evolution.
I love when images, intended and unintended, appear to the viewer, and then what they see draws something out of themselves.
My art contains a haphazard beauty, which springs from my interaction with the world. I work intuitively and instinctually. The strokes, the colors, the marks on the canvas, lead me on. I am not a technician and not driven by detail or method. I am led by circumstance to what works best for now.
Education
I have slithered through the Underground
Partied in penthouses
I've ridden in rickshaws
And been chauffeured in Rolls Royces
I've been sober, I've been drunk
Been a playboy, and a punk,
And i still don't know
What's goin' on
AND
I had met the artist Roger Williams, who, after seeing some of my sketches, invited me to his studio. I workshopped with Roger in that beautiful studio a few times, and although brief, I leaned some important basics.
Partied in penthouses
I've ridden in rickshaws
And been chauffeured in Rolls Royces
I've been sober, I've been drunk
Been a playboy, and a punk,
And i still don't know
What's goin' on
AND
I had met the artist Roger Williams, who, after seeing some of my sketches, invited me to his studio. I workshopped with Roger in that beautiful studio a few times, and although brief, I leaned some important basics.
Events
A few of my Exhibitions:
Palm Springs Art Museum Metamorphosis Exhibition, March 28th, 2019
bG Gallery Bergamot, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA May 5, 2018 - May 28, 2018. Opening reception May 5, 5 - 8 pm
SIMEON DEN GALLERY, Cathedral City, CA: December 9 - 30, Opening reception December 9, 5 - 8 pm
EXHIBITION: Palm Springs Art Museum Artists Council "Expressions of the Cochella Valley." Opening reception March 2, 2017
EXHIBITION: Smith Vargas Fine Art, Palm Springs, CA, Opening reception April 29, 2016
EXHIBITION: Muse on 8th, Los Angeles, September, October, November 2014. Opening reception September 4, 2014
Many of my paintings have been used as illustrations. Some of these include the following:
My painting, “Apples in Normandy,” which was used in the publication: “A Spiritual Canticle Poems by Rumi.”
Several images of my paintings, including “California 1972,” “Snapshot,” “Primitive Heart Fertile Mind dancing on the tightrope of Time,” and “Hidden Agenda,” were used to illustrate poems and stories in “Beyond Words,” a literary magazine based in
Berlin."
“The Decision” illustrated “Shadow Poems" by Keisha Cosand- in “LA Magazine.”
An image of my painting, “L’ile Sur-La-Sorgue,” was used in a the French Publication, “Villages of France.”
Palm Springs Art Museum Metamorphosis Exhibition, March 28th, 2019
bG Gallery Bergamot, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA May 5, 2018 - May 28, 2018. Opening reception May 5, 5 - 8 pm
SIMEON DEN GALLERY, Cathedral City, CA: December 9 - 30, Opening reception December 9, 5 - 8 pm
EXHIBITION: Palm Springs Art Museum Artists Council "Expressions of the Cochella Valley." Opening reception March 2, 2017
EXHIBITION: Smith Vargas Fine Art, Palm Springs, CA, Opening reception April 29, 2016
EXHIBITION: Muse on 8th, Los Angeles, September, October, November 2014. Opening reception September 4, 2014
Many of my paintings have been used as illustrations. Some of these include the following:
My painting, “Apples in Normandy,” which was used in the publication: “A Spiritual Canticle Poems by Rumi.”
Several images of my paintings, including “California 1972,” “Snapshot,” “Primitive Heart Fertile Mind dancing on the tightrope of Time,” and “Hidden Agenda,” were used to illustrate poems and stories in “Beyond Words,” a literary magazine based in
Berlin."
“The Decision” illustrated “Shadow Poems" by Keisha Cosand- in “LA Magazine.”
An image of my painting, “L’ile Sur-La-Sorgue,” was used in a the French Publication, “Villages of France.”
Exhibitions
A few of my Exhibitions:
Palm Springs Art Museum: Metamorphosis: exhibition at Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert, The Galen, from Thursday, March 28 through Friday, April 12, 2019.
bG Gallery Bergamot, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA May 5, 2018 - May 28, 2018. Opening reception May 5, 5 - 8 pm
SIMEON DEN GALLERY, Cathedral City, CA: December 9 - 30, Opening reception December 9, 5 - 8 pm
Palm Springs Art Museum Artists Council "Expressions of the Cochella Valley." Opening reception March 2, 2017
Smith Vargas Fine Art, Palm Springs, CA, Opening reception April 29, 2016
Muse on 8th, Los Angeles, September, October, November 2014. Opening reception September 4, 2014
Many of my paintings have been used as illustrations. Some of these include the following:
My painting, “Apples in Normandy,” which was used in the publication: “A Spiritual Canticle Poems by Rumi.”
Several images of my paintings, including “California 1972,” “Snapshot,” “Primitive Heart Fertile Mind dancing on the tightrope of Time,” and “Hidden Agenda,” were used to illustrate poems and stories in “Beyond Words,” a literary magazine based in
Berlin."
“The Decision” illustrated “Shadow Poems" by Keisha Cosand- in “LA Magazine.”
An image of my painting, “L’ile Sur-La-Sorgue,” was used in a the French Publication, “Villages of France.”
Palm Springs Art Museum: Metamorphosis: exhibition at Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert, The Galen, from Thursday, March 28 through Friday, April 12, 2019.
bG Gallery Bergamot, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA May 5, 2018 - May 28, 2018. Opening reception May 5, 5 - 8 pm
SIMEON DEN GALLERY, Cathedral City, CA: December 9 - 30, Opening reception December 9, 5 - 8 pm
Palm Springs Art Museum Artists Council "Expressions of the Cochella Valley." Opening reception March 2, 2017
Smith Vargas Fine Art, Palm Springs, CA, Opening reception April 29, 2016
Muse on 8th, Los Angeles, September, October, November 2014. Opening reception September 4, 2014
Many of my paintings have been used as illustrations. Some of these include the following:
My painting, “Apples in Normandy,” which was used in the publication: “A Spiritual Canticle Poems by Rumi.”
Several images of my paintings, including “California 1972,” “Snapshot,” “Primitive Heart Fertile Mind dancing on the tightrope of Time,” and “Hidden Agenda,” were used to illustrate poems and stories in “Beyond Words,” a literary magazine based in
Berlin."
“The Decision” illustrated “Shadow Poems" by Keisha Cosand- in “LA Magazine.”
An image of my painting, “L’ile Sur-La-Sorgue,” was used in a the French Publication, “Villages of France.”
