A 54-year-old history teacher in Connecticut just became one of the art market’s fastest-rising stars:
“What I most admire about Rob’s practice is his completely intuitive approach,” said Ogden, whose gallery is focused on Outsider art.Dealers often have roots as artists, but moving in the reverse—from sales to art making—is unusual. Joel Mesler, who began as an artist before opening an emerging-art gallery in Los Angeles, migrating to Manhattan and then East Hampton, recently embraced his early calling; his paintings have been selling for hundreds of thousands at auction since the pandemic.
A son of an American diplomat, Ober grew up all over the world and many of those early experiences are now trickling into his paintings. He spent formative years in Russia, hired snake charmers in Delhi, and played tennis at Nick Bollittieri tennis academy in Florida at the same time as Andre Agassi. He was expected to have a conventional career, like getting a job on Wall Street. Instead, he spent the next 30 years enmeshed in art and teaching.
“When I ran an art gallery, it was never obviously about the money,” Ober said. “I was in Kent, Connecticut. But it was about giving artists a chance to share their unique vision. And also to acquire their work.”“I was carrying along a lot of anxiety,” he said. “I don’t really drink, I don’t do drugs. And I needed to put it somewhere. This floodgate broke when my mother became ill and all this imagery just poured out.
“It’s fucking crazy,” said Parker, who’s been making art for three decades. “I am jealous because I make one [painting] in a month.” Painting that fast is hard, he added, because of how vulnerable it makes you feel. ““Because I’m an expressionist, I work very quickly, intuitively,” Ober said. “I don’t like my mind to interfere too much with the creative process.
While vacationing on Peaks Island in Maine, where he bought a house 10 years ago, Ober was preparing for his next project: painted skateboards, to be shown by Ogden, another skateboarder. Some will be editioned, others are unique. Next year, Ober will have a solo show with Shrine in Los Angeles, where the gallery is expanding in the fall.
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