Susanne Vielmetter Projects in pleased to present new paintings by Robert Olsen and Adam Ross.  In a book published in 1516, the word "Utopia" was coined by Sir (Saint) Thomas More to describe a fictional island off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.  This fictional place was described as a perfect and orderly society in which reason triumphed, personal property did not exist and religious toleration was practiced.  The word itself comes from the Greek root ou-topos, meaning "no place".  This play on words, which contrasts the literal idea of "no place" with the romantic idea of a "perfect place," hints at the very nature of utopia itself as an unattainable ideal.

Idealized fictional spaces have played a large part in the work of both Robert Olsen and Adam Ross.  It was for this reason that the notion of exhibiting together appealed to both artists.  Olsen's version of isolated urban spaces and Ross' paintings of hyper-real science fiction-evocative spaces deal with two versions of this subject matter.  Both artists explore an idealized landscape, and although their formal approaches differ, they are both interested in permeating these invented places with a desire of utopian perfection.  Their paintings are really located in "no place”, existing as an idealized version of places in the mind.

Robert Olsen received his MFA at the University of California, Los Angeles. His work has been shown in exhibitions at the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs; at the Harris Art Gallery at the University of La Verne, La Verne, at the Plane Space Gallery in New York; at the Luckman Fine Art Complex, California State University Los Angeles, and at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas.

Adam Ross earned his MFA at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  He has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, the Hales Gallery, London, Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, the James Harris Gallery, Seattle, Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York, the Rio Hondo College Art Gallery, Whittier, the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, among others. His work has been included in group exhibitions at Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, Museo de Bellas Artes de Castellon, Castellon, Spain; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan; The Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland; the Luckman Gallery, Los Angeles; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA; the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach; Walter and McBean Galleries, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco; the Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena; The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; The Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the University Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach, CA; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; White Columns, New York; the University of California Art Gallery, Irvine; the Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro and at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles.