Biography

Oben Abright is a figurative sculptor living in Oakland CA. Born in 1980 in San Francisco, as the son of artists, Bill Abright and Claudia Tarantino, Oben excelled at Art in school which led to his pursuit of formal training. After studying at the Lorenzo de Medici Institute of Art in Florence, he attended the California College of the Arts and received a Bachelor of Fine Art in Glass in 2004. While there, he was fortunate to study under Arthur Gonzalez and Bella Feldman, but most notably Clifford Rainey, whose concept-rich figurative glass inspired Oben to expand his material choices beyond his original interest in clay, and transfer his energies to understanding the properties of glass. This gave Oben the opportunity to convey the fragility of his subjects by trapping refracted light and color and illuminate his sculptures from within.

During his senior year of college at CCAC, Oben lived and worked out of a studio located south of Market Street in San Francisco. Many homeless people congregate in this area and as he became familiar with the people, he began sculpting them. Abright’s "Market Street Series" was inspired by these individuals, giving intimate focus to people neglected by society. This led to a breakout show, generating interest from several galleries and collectors, in 2006 he began working exclusively with Karen Echt of Habatat Chicago.

 In 2008 Oben traveled to Burma and witnessed the frightening desperation of people living on the fringes of society in a war zone. He returned to the U.S deeply moved, and this experience inspired a new body of work. The show titled "Portraits of Loi Tai Lang Burma" opened at the launch of Karen Echt’s namesake gallery in Chicago in the fall of 2010. 

Shortly after Oben relocated his studio to West Oakland, where he continued to create works inspired by people who exemplify the struggle of poverty, isolation, and addiction. These experiences led Oben to pursue a residency in 2011, joining artist James McLeod among others, for "Floating World Projects", a partnership between Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA, the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, Israel, and the Mimar Sinan Fine Art University in Istanbul, Turkey. 

In 2012 Oben was offered a show at Imago Gallery from David Austin. Austin has placed many of Oben's sculptures in private collections and museums, including The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento and the Palm Springs Art Museum. He continues to be represented by Austin Art Projects of Palm Desert California.

In 2016, Oben relocated from his West Oakland Studios and purchased a building in East Oakland to develop a new studio and showroom. At a 2018 residency at the Tacoma Museum of Glass, he was able to utilize the team working under Benjamin Cobb to elaborate on his color pallet using century-old techniques in combination with his established processes. This culminated in a body of work shown at Hohmann Gallery in Palm Desert, CA in 2019. He is currently developing a new series of mixed media portraits that acknowledge the path he has traveled and he continues to express in the realm of Sculpture.