Eric Yahnker
Eric Yahnker
b. 1976 Torrance, CA
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
After studying journalism at USC, Eric Yahnker went on to the CalArts where he received his BFA in animation. He then worked on animation for TV, including Seinfeld, South Park, and MADtv, before switching to a career in the contemporary art world. Since 2008, Yahnker has had solo exhibitions at The Hole in New York, Ambach & Rice and Zevitas Marcus in Los Angeles, Paradise Row in London, and Jeanroch Dard in Paris. Recent group exhibitions include Brand New Gallery in Milan, M+B in Los Angeles, the Torrance Art Museum in Torrance, TX and Galerie Ampersand in Cologne. His first museum solo exhibition The Long Goodbye took place at CAM Raleigh in North Carolina in 2017.
See more of Yahnker’s work on his website: http://www.ericyahnker.com/.
Education
2000
BFA Animation, California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles, CA
1996
Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Select Solo Exhibitions
2021
Heavy Lemons, The Hole, New York, NY
2020
New Works, ALAC, The Hole, Los Angeles, CA
2018
Factory Reset, The Hole, New York, NY
2017
White (G)loves: The Hole at UNTITLED, Miami Beach, FL
The Long Goodbye…, CAMRaleigh, Raleigh, NC
Alternative Fiction, The Hole, Art Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
2016
Steve Jobs’ Day Off, The Hole, New York, NY
Noah’s Yacht, Zevitas Marcus, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Sticks & Drones, Paradise Row, London, UK
2013
Ebony & Benghazi, Ambach & Rice, Los Angeles, CA
2012
Virgin Birth n’Turf, The Hole, New York, NY
Party Sub/Sub Party, The Armory Show, New York, NY, Ambach & Rice
2011
Cracks of Dawn, Ambach &Rice @ Kunsthalle L.A., Los Angeles, CA
2010
Nervous Surf, Galerie Jeanroch Dard, Paris, France
2009
Naughty Teens/Garbanzo Beans, Ambach & Rice, Seattle, WA
2008
Piano Man (For Guitar), Jack the Pelican Presents, Brooklyn, NY
Dolly Parton Behind A Tree, Kim Light Gallery (project room), Los Angeles, CA
Select Group Exhibitions
2021
Nature Morte, The Hole, New York, NY
2020
Eyes, Nose, Lips, Etc…2, Ramp Gallery, London, England
Second Smile, The Hole, New York, NY
2019
Paper View, The Hole, New York, NY
The Hole, LAABF, Los Angeles, CA
Selection of Works From the Collection, Arsenal Contemporary, Montreal, Canada
2018
EXTRA, The Hole, New York, NY
Art & Power – Reading the Collection Through Civic Engagement, Arsenal Contemporary, Montreal, Canada
Above the Rim, CAMRaleigh, Raleigh, NC
ALAC, The Hole, Los Angeles, CA
2017
What’s Up- The Americas, Whitely’s, London, U.K.
Mementos, Art Brussels, Belgium
Figure/Landscape, Zevitas Marcus, Los Angeles, CA
2016
Imagine, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy
Summer Show (TBA), M+B, Los Angeles, CA
Olimpia’s Eyes, Zevitas Marcus, Los Angeles, CA
Why I Want to Fuck Donald Trump, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY
Anxiety, HVW8, Los Angeles, CA
Doppelganger, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
Hydroponic Forms, Galerie Ampersand, Cologne, Germany
2015
Not A Photo, The Hole, New York, NY
She Sells Sea Shells By The Sea Shore, Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, NY
Drawings | Fridges, Greene Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA
Works of Paper II, ACME., Los Angeles, CA
Power Objects, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI
You Won’t Believe…, Galerie Division, Montreal, QC
6H to 8B, FOCA, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Sydney Croskery)
DUCKS, Minotaur Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Major Work, Chandran Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014
Walk-ins Welcome, Marlborough, Broome St, NYC
OK Great THANKS this is SO RIDICULOUS, ACME., Los Angeles, CA (curated by Brion Nuda Rosch)
Veils, The Underground Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Sincerely, Ambach & Rice, Los Angeles, CA
The Remarkable Lightness of Being, Aeroplastics Contemporary, Brussels, Belgium
Collection Laurent Fiévet, BBB centre d’art, Toulouse, France
DUCKS, Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Ryan Travis Christian)
Your Favorite Artist’s Favorite Artist, Joshua Liner Gallery, Chelsea, NY
When It Is Dark Enough, CES Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
Stripped, Sam Francis Gallery, Crossroads School For Arts & Sciences, Santa Monica, CA
2013
Pet Shapes, China Art Objects, Culver City, CA
True Believers, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
Rogue Wave, L.A. Louver, Venice, CA
The Archaic Revival, Zic Zerp, Rotterdam, Netherlands (curated by Dani Tull & Ewoud Van Rijn)
Good Intentions: Re-Imagining Rockwell’s Boy Scouts, Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Report on An Unidentified Space Station, Paradise Row @ The Armory Show, NYC
2012
Portrait of a Generation, The Hole NYC, New York, NY
Breadbox, ZieherSmith@Icon Building, Nashville, TN
Body Snatchers, White Box, New York, NY (curated by Raul Zamudio)
Visible, Harris Art Gallery, University of La Verne (curated by Dion Johnson)
The Right Wrong, Greene Exhibitions, Culver City, CA
Facial Expressionism: Immanence Envisaged, Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA (curated by James MacDevitt)
In the Future the Artist Will Say: That Object is a Work of Art, 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY
2011
Will be home…, Ambach & Rice, Los Angeles, CA
B-B-B-Bad, Anna Kustera, New York, NY (feat. Paul McCarthy, John Waters, John Wayne Gacy & more)
Telephone, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
FACEMAKER, Royal-T, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Kathy Grayson)
Nothing To Say, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010
Gray Day, Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, CA (curated by Noah Davis)
Suspension of Disbelief, Other Gallery, Shanghai, China (curated by Raul Zamudio)
Playboys & Killjoys, Ambach & Rice, Seattle, WA (feat. Erwin Wurm, Raymond Pettibon)
Meer/More, Voorkamer, Lier, Belgium
The Power of Selection, Pt.3, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
Session_12_Words + Untitled, Four Boxes Gallery, Skive, Denmark
The Weight of the Words, Stuffinablank.com, online exhibition (curated by Pedro Torres)
Instant L.A. Summer, Carmichael Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
UNCOVER, DISCOVER, DISCARD, Golden Age, Chicago, IL (curated by Jessica Minckley)
Sonny Smith: 100 Records, Gallery 16, San Francisco, CA (traveled to: Okay Mtn. Gallery, Austin, TX/Cinders Gallery, Brooklyn, NY/ False Front Gallery, Portland, OR)
Bushwick Schlacht!, Fortress to Solitude, Brooklyn, NY
Inaugural Exhibition, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Fuckheads, Kinkead Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Angela Dufresne)
Paper! Awesome!, Baer Ridgway Gallery, San Francisco, CA (curated by Brion Nuda Rosch)
Riders, Galerie Polad-Hardouin, Paris, France
The Power of Selection, Pt.1, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL (curated by Ryan Travis Christian)
2009
Baker’s Dozen, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
Session_7_Words, Am Nuden Da, London, England
Ulli and Lucrecia’s Lustige Gruppenausstellung Mit Party, 533 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Interrobang, Space Gallery, Portland, ME
Beautiful/Decay: A to Z, Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
control c, control v, eberb9, Chicago, IL
The Haunted House Show, Colin Roberts’ Studio, Los Angeles, CA
No Right Beast, Women’s Building, Los Angeles, CA
2008
L.A. Potential, HangART-7, Salzburg, Austria (curated by Hubert Schmalix, Roger Herman)
Found/Gevonden/Trouve, Voorkamer, Lier, Belgium
Group Show Without Andre Butzer, Women’s Building, Los Angeles, CA
Select Press and Publications
2018
Sasha Bogojev, “Eric Yahnker Asks For a Factory Reset,” Juxtapoz, November 15
Stephanie Eckardt , “An Illustrated (and Very Disturbing) Guide to Contemporary American Culture,” W Magazine, November 19
Scott Indrisek, “Eric Yahnker’s Absurd Pop-Culture Paintings Capture the Madness of 2018,” Artsy, December 5
2017
Alicia Eler & Alex Huntsberger, “When Great Art Makes You LOL,” Hyperallergic, February 20
2016
Lenae Day, “Eric Yahnker: Noah’s Yacht at Zevitas Marcus,” Daily Serving, April 18
“16 Artists to Watch in 2016,” Huffington Post, February 16
David Jenison, “Eric Yahnker: Making America Great Again,” PROHBTD
Stephan Alexander, “Creative Brief: Eric Yahnker,” Little Beast, January 18
Zio Baritaux, “12 Artists on their 1st Exhibitions,” i-D Magazine, January 7
“Eric Yahnker ‘Noah’s Yacht’,” Juxtapoz
Dirk Petzold, “Eric Yahnker at Gallery Zevitas Marcus,” We and the Color
Taylor Dafoe, “Ceci N’est Pas: ‘Not A Photo’ at The Hole,” Artcritical, January 13
2014
2013
Christopher Knight, “Eric Yahnker at Ambach & Rice,” LA Times, September 13
2012
Steve Cox, Interview with Eric Yahnker, Hunted Projects
Kathy Grayson, “5 Young Minds,” The Wild Magazine
Ken Johnson, “Art in review: Eric Yahnker: ‘Virgin Birth ‘n’ Turf,’” The New York Times, September 6
Ken Johnson, “The Old New Here, the New New There,” The New York Times, March 8
Cedar Pasori, “The 25 Most Important Artists of 2012 (So Far),” Complex, June 29
Jerry Saltz, “Five Shows Jerry Saltz Really Wants to See,” New York Magazine, August 19
Lydia Warren, “Review: Eric Yahnker’s Virgin Birth ‘n’ Turf,” September 6
“50 Johnnys” by Eric Yahnker, produced by Cary Georges, LA Times Magazine
“A throne is only a bench covered in velvet,” interview with Kathy Grayson, i-D Magazine, Spring, No. 318
“Eric Yahnker’s Good Old American Fun In ‘Party Sub/Sub Party,’” Huffington Post, April 9
“Eric Yahnker: elegant slapstick for the middle-highbrow,” podcast with Michael Shaw, podomatic
“Los Angeles based Artist Eric Yahnker at his first New York solo show titled Virgin Birth ‘N’ Turf, MuseMagazine,” September 5
“Opening: Eric Yahnker @ The Hole, NYC,” Juxtapoz, September 10
Public Fiction Quarterly: The Gold Rush/Manifest Destiny Issue, Los Angeles, CA
2011
Trinie Dalton, “Eric Yahnker,” Artforum.com, Critics Picks, Los Angeles, February 8
Howie Kahn, “L.A.’s New Cool School,” Men’s Journal, August
Bill Keller, “Dealing With Assange and the WikiLeaks Secrets,” The New York Times, January 26
Luke Lucas, “Interview with artist Eric Yahnker,” Lifelounge, January 19, Australia
David Pagel, “Ensemble makes itself at home,” Los Angeles Times, Calendar: Around the Galleries, August 26
Mayer Rus, “Pop Goes the Easel,” LA Times Magazine, From Rus with Love, January 24
Alexander Tarrant, “Eric Yahnker: Interview,” JUXTAPOZ: Art + Culture, May 11
Pedro Véléz, “L.A. Confidential,” Artnet, News, Reviews, February 10
2010
Samantha Gilewicz, “It’s Life, But Not as We Know It,” Nylon Guys Magazine, March
Jen Graves, “The Pickle Can Stay,” The Stranger, September 9-15, Vol. 20, No.1
Mayer Rus, “Joker’s Wild,” L.A. Times Magazine, January
Mayer Rus, “Naughty Teens/Garbanzo Beans,” Essay, Exhibition Catalog, Ambach & Rice
New American Paintings, ed. Steven T. Zevitas, no. 85, Pacific Coast, The Open Studio Press
“Eric Yahnker: Smack My Beach Up,” CLARK Magazine, Edition 43, July-August, Paris, France
“Reign of Humor,” NY Arts Magazine, Vol 15, Spring, International Edition
File Magazine, Issue 4 Autumn/Winter, cover feature It’s Nice That, Issue 4, October, UK
2009
Ryan Christian, “Eric Yahnker Interview,” Fecalface.com, June 29
Karen Day, “Eric Yahnker: Naughty Teens/Garbanzo Beans,” Cool Hunting.com, June 12
Fette, “Studio Visit with Eric Yahnker,” The Flog.com, November
Jen Graves, “Currently Hanging,” The Slog, The Stranger, August 7
Samantha Gilewicz, “The Fine Line,” Everything Is
Regina Hackett, “Eric Yahnker: Ludicrious Cubism (A dog walks into a bar),” ArtsJournal Weblog, July 31
Erin Langner, “Naughty Teens, Garbanzo Beans, Rancho and Language Games,” Peripheral Vision, July 21
Sasha Lee, “Interview: Eric Yahnker,” Dailyserving, July 21
David Pagel, “Beautiful/Decay A to Z Retrospective,” Beautiful/Decay Magazine, Issue Z
Robyn Farrell Roulo, “Overlap,” Artslant, August
Yasha Wallin, “The Whole Megillah,” Heeb Magazine, Issue #20, Spring
“Baker’s Dozen’ at the Torrance Art Museum,” The Los Angeles Times, October 9
“Control C, Control V @ EbersB9,” Chicago Art Review, July 20
“Steal Your Face: A Portfolio of Artists Turning Portraiture on It’s Head,” TOKION
2008
Julian Duron, “Eric Yahnker @ Jack the Pelican,” Fecalface.com, October
Uschi Korda, “Meine Welt Eric Yahnker,” The Red Bulletin, October
Sasha Lee, “Interview: Eric Yahnker,” November, Beautiful Decay, Anthology
Paul Rand, “Fresh Chucks with Eric Yahnker,” Glitterati Magazine, Fall
Paul Young, Los Angeles Times, March 20, The Guide
HangART-7 Edition 11, “L.A. Potential,” Salzburg, Austria (catalog), essays: Andrew Berardini, Lioba Redekker
2007
New American Paintings, ed. Steven T. Zevitas, no. 73