Kaz Oshiro
Kaz Oshiro is a Japanese-American contemporary artist born in 1967 in Okinawa, Japan. Currently based in Los Angeles, California, Oshiro is renowned for his innovative practice that blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture. His work explores dichotomies such as abstraction/figuration, reality/illusion, and painting/sculpture, often referencing artistic movements like Pop Art, Minimalism, and Abstract Expressionism. Oshiro creates hyperrealistic, trompe l’oeil sculptures of everyday objects—such as kitchen cabinets, trash bins, guitar amplifiers, and steel beams—using traditional painting materials like acrylic, Bondo, and stretched canvas. These meticulously crafted pieces challenge viewers’ perceptions, appearing as functional objects at first glance but revealing their nature as paintings upon closer inspection.
Oshiro moved to Los Angeles after high school and earned both his Bachelor of Arts (1998) and Master of Fine Arts (2002) from California State University, Los Angeles. Influenced by his early encounters with photorealist paintings and his immersion in American and Japanese pop culture, Oshiro developed a practice that reinterprets the readymade and still-life traditions. His works are celebrated for their technical precision and conceptual depth, engaging with themes of consumer culture, artistic representation, and the history of painting. Oshiro’s art has been exhibited globally in prestigious institutions, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Walker Art Center, and the Hammer Museum, and is held in notable collections such as LACMA, the Rubell Museum, and the Zabludowicz Collection. He is represented by galleries including Rosamund Felsen Gallery in Santa Monica, Galerie Frank Elbaz in Paris, and MAKI Gallery in Tokyo.
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Kaz OshiroCalifornia Syuji (Pearl Blue, Yellow drip), 2020Acrylic on canvas48 x 34 x 2 1/4 inches
121.9 x 86.4 x 5.7 cm -
Kaz OshiroCalifornia Shuji (Pearl Seaform, Salmon Pink drip), 2020Acrylic and Polyurethane on canvas35 3/4 x 24 x 2 1/4 inches
90.8 x 61 x 5.7 cm -
Kaz OshiroCalifornia Syuji (Pearl Blue, Orange splatter), 2020Acrylic on canvas24 x 18 x 2 1/4 inches
61 x 45.7 x 5.7 cm -
Kaz OshiroUntitled (Steel Beam), 2020Acrylic on canvas96 1/4 x 5 x 2 inches
244.5 x 12.7 x 5.1 cm -
Kaz OshiroUntitled (Steel Beam), 2020Acrylic on canvas96 1/4 x 5 x 2 inches
244.5 x 12.7 x 5.1 cm -
Kaz OshiroUntitled (Steel Beam), 2020Acrylic on canvas
96 1/4 x 5 x 2 inches
244.5 x 12.7 x 5.1 cm -
Kaz OshiroTailgate, (YO, Up Yours), 2020Acrylic, polyurethane and Bondo on canvas.52 7/8 x 18 x 2 3/8 inches
134.3 x 45.7 x 6 cm -
Kaz OshiroUntitled (Steel Beams), 2016Acrylic on canvas
9 7/8 x 96 1/4 x 20 inches
25.1 x 244.5 x 50.8 cm -
Kaz OshiroDunmpster, (Green with Navy Swoosh), 2014Acrylic on stretched canvas, caster wheels48 x 75 1/2 x 35 inches
121.9 x 191.8 x 88.9 cm -
Kaz OshiroUntitled Still Life, 2014Acrylic on canvas74 1/2 x 48 x 19 1/4 inches
189.2 x 121.9 x 48.9 cm -
Kaz OshiroUntitled Still Life, 2014Acrylic on canvas
24 x 28 x 9 inches
61 x 71.1 x 22.9 cm -
Kaz OshiroHome Speakers - pair (Technics, black woodgrain), 2014Acrylic and Bondo on stretched canvas17 3/4 x 35 3/8 x 12" each ( or 45 x 90 x 30cm each)
Interval between speakers: 17 3/4" or 45cm -
Kaz OshiroUntitled Painting (black upholstery/lines), 2012Acrylic on streched canvas over upholstery form and panel21 x 21 x 4 1/4 inches
53.3 x 53.3 x 10.8 cm -
Kaz OshiroTrash Bin #4 (turquoise), 2003-04Acrylic and bondo on streched canvas39 5/8 x 20 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches
100.6 x 51.1 x 51.1 cm