"Abstractions" by Eric Sanders

About

EASTERN PROJECTS
presents
ERIC SANDERS
Debut Solo Exhibition
“ABSTRACTIONS”

ERIC SANDERS MAKES HIS LA ART WORLD DEBUT WITH AN EXPANSIVE SOLO SHOW AT EASTERN PROJECTS GALLERY

ON VIEW
Friday, September 27, 2019 | 6pm - 10pm
Saturday, September 28, 2019 | 12pm - 8pm

Eastern Projects
900 N Broadway #1090, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Eastern Projects Gallery is proud to present the debut solo exhibition of painter Eric Sanders. Abstractions premieres a bold new body of abstract paintings from the artist, drawing upon a reservoir of untapped creativity that he built up over thirty years working solely in the business world. Now retired from entrepreneurship, Sanders has made a 180º turn to devote his entire life to the arts, his original passion.

As a child, Sanders was introduced to the joys of painting by his father, and honed his craft for most of his youth and adolescence. Like many people in our society, Sanders eventually believed it was time to “grow up.” He entered the business world after completing his education and embarked on a remarkably successful career as a multi-business entrepreneur. For thirty years, he never touched a paint brush or created art of any kind, though he was endlessly drawn to exploring museums and watching documentary films. 

When he retired in 2015, Sanders became an avid art collector, filling his home with classic works as well as supporting local and internationally renowned artists. Sensing the creative spirit that was behind his interests, a friend bought him a set of paint and paintbrushes and encouraged him to try his hand at art again. As soon as Sanders began painting, he was hooked, and hasn’t put down his brush since.

“I was really surprised when I started to paint again that I still had it—I thought creativity was something you only had when you were young,” says Sanders. “But for thirty years I went to museums and absorbed so much art as a spectator, that when I started to paint again I found I had this huge reservoir of inspiration that was sort of waiting for me to tap into it. It never went away. It was just in my brain, waiting for me to translate it to canvas.”

Since the start of 2017, Sanders has created hundreds of new paintings, drawing on influences from greats such as Basquiat, Dali, de Kooning, Picasso, and many more. In his explorations, he has created dozens of figurative and landscape pieces—but his greatest passion has been for the abstract. In Abstractions, Sanders will premiere 40 abstract works on canvas along 40 digital artworks, some incorporating mixed media, and all created in an aesthetic flow specifically for this show. In addition to the new body of work, this is also Sanders’ debut as an artist.  

“For me it’s been a very odd identity shift,” he says. “For thirty years being an adult and having a business persona, and now changing it to something so dramatically different is strange to me.”

Abstractions will be on view for two days only, beginning Friday, September 27 and closing Saturday, September 28, 2019. All proceeds will be donated to the Sanders Family Foundation. Eastern Projects Gallery is located at 900 N Broadway #1090, Los Angeles, CA 90012. 

About Eric Sanders

Eric Sanders (b. 1963, Philadelphia, PA) discovered the joy of painting at age six when his father first gave him art lessons. He continued to paint throughout college but upon graduation from George Washington University (Washington, DC) turned his focus towards building and establishing a successful entrepreneurial career. For three intervening decades, his brushes lay dormant. Following the sale of Sanders Industries in 2015, Sanders returned to making art full-time and established a studio in Manhattan Beach, CA. 

Sanders embraces both traditional and new (digital) media, and his work is a clever reflection and formal synthesis of the artists who inspire him including such 20th-century greats as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dali, Willem de Kooning, Pablo Picasso, and Cy Twombly. As a result, a breadth of artistic genres, styles, and techniques informs his aesthetic language. Sanders is stimulated by the challenge of metabolizing what he sees and welcomes creative risk-taking within his practice. Although seemingly disparate, his work manifests an underlying theme: a continuously evolving relationship to the visual world around him. Sanders invites viewers to apply the same values of openness and fluidity to their interpretation of his work as well.
 
Concurrent with his artistic practice, Sanders is actively involved in philanthropy and established the Sanders Family Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit charity, in 2015. The Foundation supports organizations fostering sustainable change in developing countries with a specific focus on initiatives directed towards women and children. Since its inception, the Foundation has allocated funds to Global Communities, the Global Livingston Institute, Groundswell International, Nuru International, Project Care International, and World Neighbors. Sanders will transfer 100% of the income generated by the sale of his artwork to his Foundation for reinvestment in philanthropic initiatives further underscoring his deep commitment to socially impactful endeavors.

Sanders lives and works in Manhattan Beach, California and is the devoted father of two boys.

Media Inquiries: Hijinx PR | Heidi Johnson | heidi@hijinxarts.com | 323.204.7246