About this Work
About the Artist
American
b. 1931 Brooklyn, New York
d. 2013 Emeryville, CaliforniaThe son of Sicilian immigrants, Joe Oddo began his art career as a student at the Institute of Design of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, a school based on teachings of the Bauhaus. In the early 1960s, he studied at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute) with the painter James Weeks and continued in the graduate program there, where his faculty advisor was Richard Diebenkorn. After graduating with an MFA, he was offered the opportunity to teach a drawing class, and his teaching career was launched. Oddo continued painting and teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute, Stanford University, and the University of California at Davis. In the late 1970s he was Artist-in-Residence for the Nevada Arts Council, teaching drawing and painting at schools in rural Nevada, and going out on weekends to paint high desert landscapes. He returned to the Bay Area in the 1980s and began exploring urban landscapes in Oakland and San Francisco. He became interested in sculling and joined the Lake Merritt Rowing Club, which put him on the water where he could closely observe the birds and their environment in this historic bird sanctuary. Many of his paintings reflect his deeply visual interest in urban and rural landscapes. His paintings have been exhibited at the Oakland Museum of California; the San Francisco Art Institute; the Leland Stanford Museum; Dominican University in San Rafael, California; College of Holy Names in Oakland; the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California; Babcock Galleries in New York City, and many other locations in the United States, Denmark and Sweden. In 1995 American Artist published an article by Karen Haber about Oddo’s work entitled “Taking Advantage of the Moment,” featuring photographs of works in progress of views of the Port of Oakland and San Francisco Bay from the Berkeley hills. Oddo was a long-time resident of the 45th Street Artists’ Cooperative in Emeryville, California, where he lived and painted until his death. His work is in many private collections in the United States and Australia.
b. 1931 Brooklyn, New York
d. 2013 Emeryville, CaliforniaThe son of Sicilian immigrants, Joe Oddo began his art career as a student at the Institute of Design of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, a school based on teachings of the Bauhaus. In the early 1960s, he studied at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute) with the painter James Weeks and continued in the graduate program there, where his faculty advisor was Richard Diebenkorn. After graduating with an MFA, he was offered the opportunity to teach a drawing class, and his teaching career was launched. Oddo continued painting and teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute, Stanford University, and the University of California at Davis. In the late 1970s he was Artist-in-Residence for the Nevada Arts Council, teaching drawing and painting at schools in rural Nevada, and going out on weekends to paint high desert landscapes. He returned to the Bay Area in the 1980s and began exploring urban landscapes in Oakland and San Francisco. He became interested in sculling and joined the Lake Merritt Rowing Club, which put him on the water where he could closely observe the birds and their environment in this historic bird sanctuary. Many of his paintings reflect his deeply visual interest in urban and rural landscapes. His paintings have been exhibited at the Oakland Museum of California; the San Francisco Art Institute; the Leland Stanford Museum; Dominican University in San Rafael, California; College of Holy Names in Oakland; the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California; Babcock Galleries in New York City, and many other locations in the United States, Denmark and Sweden. In 1995 American Artist published an article by Karen Haber about Oddo’s work entitled “Taking Advantage of the Moment,” featuring photographs of works in progress of views of the Port of Oakland and San Francisco Bay from the Berkeley hills. Oddo was a long-time resident of the 45th Street Artists’ Cooperative in Emeryville, California, where he lived and painted until his death. His work is in many private collections in the United States and Australia.
