Biography
Noah Olsen’s paintings are a contemporary marriage of classical painting and surrealism. Olsen’s paintings are akin to visual myths, tapping into the long history of distilling the human experience into symbolic legends. These pictorial stories bring the viewer directly into the climactic moment of an untold myth, one which he or she is left to decipher the context and narrative through the lens of his or her individual experiences. He meticulously renders in oils, creating representational artwork that features symbolism related to birth, life, transformation, self reflection, decay and death. His work often portrays morbid or somber imagery but with a delicate, dreamlike beauty.
Olsen’s ideas come to him as instinctive mental images with a visceral connection that he then tries to recreate and capture in his paintings. He creates harmonies between unusual objects and people in his paintings, taking seemingly unrelated elements and composing them to strike a chord of meaning and serenity. The symbols he invokes are not rational or didactic in nature, but are based on intuition and remain open ended for the viewer to interpret.
Olsen’s artwork is influenced by a wide array of painters, most prominently Rembrandt and Vermeer. He also finds inspiration in the films by Hayao Miyazaki and in the writings of Brother’s Grimm and Aesop’s Fables.
Noah Olsen was born in Rhode Island in 1992. In 2013, he received his Associate in Arts at Bristol Community College. Yearning for a strong traditional art education, Olsen then spent three years studying at the Academy of Realist Art Boston after being awarded their 2016 scholarship. His work has won best in show in the Richeson Small Works Exhibition, the Northeast Fine Arts Exhibition and the Guild of Boston Artist Juried Exhibition. Noah Olsen currently lives and paints in the Missouri Ozarks.
Exhibitions:
2023
“Richeson75 Small Works Exhibition,” Richeson Gallery, Kimberly, WI.
“RepreSENTATIONAL,” Heartland Art Club, Kirkwood, MO.
“Richeson75 Figure/Portrait Exhibition” Richeson Gallery, Kimberly, WI.
2021
“Third Annual Northeast Fine Arts Exhibition,” Workshop13, Ware, MA.
“Transformation,” Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Pawtucket, RI.
2020
“Modern Male II,” Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown, MA.
“National Open Juried Exhibition,” Providence Art Club, Providence, RI.
2019
“Zullo Holiday Exhibit,” Zullo Gallery, Medfield, MA.
“Academy of Realist Art Show,” Portsmouth Music & Arts Center, Portsmouth, MA.
2018
“Foundation Show,” Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Pawtucket, RI.
Awards and Honors:
Best in Show. “Richeson75 Small Works Exhibition,” Richeson Gallery, Kimberly, WI, 2023.
Honorable Mention. “Richeson75 Figure/Portrait Exhibition,” Richeson Gallery, Kimberly, WI, 2023.
Honorable Mention. “RepreSENTATIONAL,” Heartland Art Club, Kirkwood, MO, 2022.
Best in Show. “Third Annual Northeast Fine Arts Exhibition,” Workshop13, Ware, MA, 2021.
Second Place. “Transformation,” Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Pawtucket, RI, 2020.
Gold Medal. “New England Regional Juried Exhibition,” Guild of Boston Artists, Boston, MA, 2020.
Third Place Scholarship. “The ARC Scholarship Fund,” Art Renewal Center, Port Reading, NJ. Juried by Fred Ross and Dr. Vern Swanson, 2018.
Scholarship. “The John F. and Anna Lee Stacey Scholarship Fund,” National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 2017.
Scholarship. Academy of Realist Art Boston, Boston, MA, 2016.
Education:
2016-2019: Academy of Realist Art Boston, Boston, MA.
2011-2013: Bristol Community College, Associate in Arts Summa Cum Laude.
2008: Rhode Island School of Design, Certificate in Game Design.
2007: Rhode Island School of Design, Certificate in Cartooning and Animation.
Bibliography:
John Belmont, “Replenished Energy: Guild of Boston Shows its Resilience,” Artscope Magazine, September 3 2020.
Edward Clark, “Art & Life with Noah Olsen,” BostonVoyager, August 27 2018.
Noah Olsen’s paintings are a contemporary marriage of classical painting and surrealism. Olsen’s paintings are akin to visual myths, tapping into the long history of distilling the human experience into symbolic legends. These pictorial stories bring the viewer directly into the climactic moment of an untold myth, one which he or she is left to decipher the context and narrative through the lens of his or her individual experiences. He meticulously renders in oils, creating representational artwork that features symbolism related to birth, life, transformation, self reflection, decay and death. His work often portrays morbid or somber imagery but with a delicate, dreamlike beauty.
Olsen’s ideas come to him as instinctive mental images with a visceral connection that he then tries to recreate and capture in his paintings. He creates harmonies between unusual objects and people in his paintings, taking seemingly unrelated elements and composing them to strike a chord of meaning and serenity. The symbols he invokes are not rational or didactic in nature, but are based on intuition and remain open ended for the viewer to interpret.
Olsen’s artwork is influenced by a wide array of painters, most prominently Rembrandt and Vermeer. He also finds inspiration in the films by Hayao Miyazaki and in the writings of Brother’s Grimm and Aesop’s Fables.
Noah Olsen was born in Rhode Island in 1992. In 2013, he received his Associate in Arts at Bristol Community College. Yearning for a strong traditional art education, Olsen then spent three years studying at the Academy of Realist Art Boston after being awarded their 2016 scholarship. His work has won best in show in the Richeson Small Works Exhibition, the Northeast Fine Arts Exhibition and the Guild of Boston Artist Juried Exhibition. Noah Olsen currently lives and paints in the Missouri Ozarks.
Exhibitions:
2023
“Richeson75 Small Works Exhibition,” Richeson Gallery, Kimberly, WI.
“RepreSENTATIONAL,” Heartland Art Club, Kirkwood, MO.
“Richeson75 Figure/Portrait Exhibition” Richeson Gallery, Kimberly, WI.
2021
“Third Annual Northeast Fine Arts Exhibition,” Workshop13, Ware, MA.
“Transformation,” Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Pawtucket, RI.
2020
“Modern Male II,” Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown, MA.
“National Open Juried Exhibition,” Providence Art Club, Providence, RI.
2019
“Zullo Holiday Exhibit,” Zullo Gallery, Medfield, MA.
“Academy of Realist Art Show,” Portsmouth Music & Arts Center, Portsmouth, MA.
2018
“Foundation Show,” Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Pawtucket, RI.
Awards and Honors:
Best in Show. “Richeson75 Small Works Exhibition,” Richeson Gallery, Kimberly, WI, 2023.
Honorable Mention. “Richeson75 Figure/Portrait Exhibition,” Richeson Gallery, Kimberly, WI, 2023.
Honorable Mention. “RepreSENTATIONAL,” Heartland Art Club, Kirkwood, MO, 2022.
Best in Show. “Third Annual Northeast Fine Arts Exhibition,” Workshop13, Ware, MA, 2021.
Second Place. “Transformation,” Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Pawtucket, RI, 2020.
Gold Medal. “New England Regional Juried Exhibition,” Guild of Boston Artists, Boston, MA, 2020.
Third Place Scholarship. “The ARC Scholarship Fund,” Art Renewal Center, Port Reading, NJ. Juried by Fred Ross and Dr. Vern Swanson, 2018.
Scholarship. “The John F. and Anna Lee Stacey Scholarship Fund,” National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 2017.
Scholarship. Academy of Realist Art Boston, Boston, MA, 2016.
Education:
2016-2019: Academy of Realist Art Boston, Boston, MA.
2011-2013: Bristol Community College, Associate in Arts Summa Cum Laude.
2008: Rhode Island School of Design, Certificate in Game Design.
2007: Rhode Island School of Design, Certificate in Cartooning and Animation.
Bibliography:
John Belmont, “Replenished Energy: Guild of Boston Shows its Resilience,” Artscope Magazine, September 3 2020.
Edward Clark, “Art & Life with Noah Olsen,” BostonVoyager, August 27 2018.