Michael Paul Oman-Reagan
Encyclopedia
Oman-Reagan is known for his work around socio-cultural and anthropological themes. His most acclaimed series has been his "Communication Project," where Oman-Reagan communicated with gallerists, art institutions and dedicated cultural spaces through the installation of art objects on or near their buildings.
Born in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
, Oman-Reagan's parents moved the family to Baker City, Oregon
Baker City, Oregon
Baker City is a city in and the county seat of Baker County, Oregon, United States. It was named after Edward D. Baker. The population was 9,828 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, when he was five years old. Oman-Reagan is a descendant of Angelina Morgan, relative of Henry Morgan
Henry Morgan
Admiral Sir Henry Morgan was an Admiral of the Royal Navy, a privateer, and a pirate who made a name for himself during activities in the Caribbean, primarily raiding Spanish settlements...
through the Oman family of the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
. Notable Omans include Charles Oman
Charles Oman
Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman was a British military historian of the early 20th century. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering...
and Oman-Reagan's grandfather, the entomologist Paul W. Oman
Paul W. Oman
Paul Wilson Oman An entomologist and specialist on leafhopper taxonomy, Paul Oman was born in Kansas in 1908 and was educated at the University of Kansas and the George Washington University...
.
Following studies at Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, he lived and worked in Park City, Utah
Park City, Utah
Park City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 7,558 at the 2010 census...
, Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello is the county seat and largest city of Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the Pocatello metropolitan area, which encompasses all of Bannock...
, Paris, France and Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket is an island south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the United States. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the coterminous Nantucket County, which are consolidated. Part of the town is designated the Nantucket...
.
He has mentioned his participation in the realization of a Sol LeWitt
Sol LeWitt
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism....
wall drawing as a strong early influence on his work. Oman-Reagan founded Field (Field Gallery) in Portland, Oregon, and as the founder and curator of a gallery for emerging contemporary art, he was part of Portland’s millennial art renaissance.
The artist currently lives and works in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His "Communication Project" has included installations in the public space surrounding or inside galleries, institutions and art neighborhoods including PDX Contemporary Art, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon, United States was founded in 1996 by Kristy Edmunds, formerly the Director of the Portland Art Museum's "Art on the Edge" program...
, Portland Art Museum
Portland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, United States, was founded in 1892, making it the oldest art museum on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the United States. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum became one of the twenty-five largest art museums in...
, Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
, The New Museum, Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Palais de Tokyo
Palais de Tokyo
The Palais de Tokyo is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, near the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The eastern wing of the building belongs the City of Paris and hosts the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris...
, Art Chicago and Art|Basel.
Quotes
"The art-world is rife with politicking. Ostensibly curators engage in acts of selection for the welfare of the artist. The act of selection, however, often creates a transformative rather than a transactional relationship between artist and exhibition space. A curator should be a conduit for democratic dialogue, not a "decider". -Michael Paul Oman-ReaganQuotes about
"He and I talk[ed] about anthropology, Gerhard Richter and the question of whether artists should strive for a recognizable style (I say yes; he says no)." - Author Richard SpeerRichard Speer
-Biography:Speer is the author of the 2005 biography of Outsider artist Matt Lamb, Matt Lamb: The Art of Success, published by John Wiley & Sons.Speer's essays, art reviews, and feature articles have appeared in Newsweek, Salon, ARTnews, Art Ltd., Opera News, and The Los Angeles Times...
"“This is by Michael Oman-Reagan,” Engelman says. She sums up the work’s appeal: “It’s part of the quietness of fluorescence.” There’s another in the main hallway of her home. People would walk by it and walk by it and all of a sudden notice it, probably because of the way the light was shining and it would glow a little bit. And once you notice it you never could walk by that wall without seeing that stick. That to me is fascinating, the impact it has." - Collector Sylvia Engelman