Artist Statement
The sight of steam and smoke belching out into the atmosphere is at one moment sublime and at another prosaic. In both instances it is fuel for inspiration. Whether a grandiose landscape of cooling towers or a carefully painted still life of a fish sandwich value meal, my work aims to provide the same tension. The paintings seduce and then disrupt satisfaction, while at the same time circumscribing the consumerist tendencies that make up our culture.
BioDarren Oberto creates work that reflects both the agriculture and industry that dominated the small town in which he was raised. Darren received his BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design in 2002, where he focused on painting. Later that year he moved to Chicago, where he continues to work, show, and collaborate with artists at the Alley Gallery in Evanston.
Darren paints primarily in oil, however he does often work in other media such as wood, wax and goldleaf. Currently he is rotating between several bodies of work, which include portraits, still lifes of fast food, and industrial landscape. He uses philosophy and art history as springboards for new ideas and plays on words. His work considers daily encounters and environmental issues in order to playfully provoke his viewer with images that are both seductive and unsettling.