Tim Ebner
American, b. 1953
Untitled (Wolf, Alligator and Fish), 1997
Oil on canvas
48 x 42 in
2000.10.7
Gift of Eileen and Peter Norton
Collection of the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University
http://museum.marquette.edu/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=1198&viewType=detailView

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Born in Dayton, Ohio in 1953, Tim Ebner currently lives and works in Los Angeles. When Ebner created Untitled (Wolf, Alligator and Fish), the animal images were a departure from the abstract minimalist work he was known for. His rich application of paint draws focus to the process of painting, making the subjects of the piece secondary, and drawing out “the tension between the formal elements in a painting and the strange possibilities.” Inspired by children’s books, gardening manuals, and religious imagery, Ebner’s animal subjects are strangely humanized, endowed with human hands and clothing, as well as eyes that reveal a depth of feelings. By placing together characters that would normally exist as hunter and hunted, Ebner contrasts comradery and dread, epic and fanciful, and creates open ended questions about humanity and spirituality, or lack thereof.