Gary Olson
In the mid 1980’s, Olson expanded his subject matter to include wild animals from the nearby Rockies, exploring life in the wide-open landscapes surrounding his home in Cochrane, Alberta. Olson’s realist images of animals have often been used to comment on the skewed relationship between animals and society, and the alienation between humans and the natural world.
Always the educator, Olson’s self-portraits done in graphite were a way to convey difficult theoretical art concepts to students in a very literal way. These amusing works feature a close-up of his face, pressed against what appears to be a sheet of glass, but is in fact the flat picture plane. At the same time, Olson takes the opportunity to poke fun at the theory of art, capturing something of his own irreverent desire to continuously push the envelope.