States of Being: Eric Zener
October 9 - November 1, 2025
  • Video
  • Overview
    States of Being, Eric Zener
    Art is the visual poetry that reflects human internal exploration.  It will both hold our hand as we travel along our journey and plant a flag to memorialize significant moments.  Art reflects our change; past, present, and aspirational. 

    Gallery Henoch is pleased to present a solo show of recent paintings by Eric Zener. The exhibition will run from October 9th to November 1, 2025. A public reception will be held for the artist Thursday, October 9th, from 6 – 8 PM.

     
    Art is the visual poetry that reflects human internal exploration.  It will both hold our hand as we travel along our journey and plant a flag to memorialize significant moments.  Art reflects our change; past, present, and aspirational. 
     
     In my new "Oceanscapes", I use a distilled color palette, stripping away the excess to expose the essentials. The sea is my instrument to the internal.  Vast, restless, calm, tempestuous, restorative.  She is the beginning and the continuum; she has imbued us with all her moods.  Though we will forever struggle to comprehend her and she will always have a side that is unmistakably powerful, when we gaze upon the sea, we open ourselves to that which lies beneath our own surface.  We have sprung from the ocean.  We remain mostly liquid.  Between the rage of the storms the surface returns to a placid calm.  -Eric Zener
  • Works
  • Installation Shots
  • Press Release Text

    Eric Zener

    STATES OF BEING

    October 9 – November 1, 2025

     

    Gallery Henoch is pleased to present States of Being, a solo show by  Eric Zener. The exhibition will run from October 9th to November 1st, 2025.  A public reception will be held for the artist Thursday, October 9th, from 6 – 8 PM.

     

    Living and working in the Bay Area, Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, OR) sources his inspiration from the surrounding natural landscape. Best knowns for his swimmers and divers, Zener has been engaged in a quest to observe and understand the inner experience of humans. In Basking in the Blue a lone figure tranquilly swims, becoming an embodiment of freedom, joy, and peace of mind. In other more dynamic paintings like Turbulent a man plunges into the deep blue surf, surrounded by plumes of white bubbles in search of revelation.

     

    While his earlier pieces convey encounters between individuals and water in the form of psychological narrative, his subsequent paintings often focus on the water itself, most specifically the ocean. Each new painting depicts the water in various states of agitation. Some, like Repose offer a peaceful facet to the ocean. He paints small waves and ripples, conveying a body of water at rest. Yet, in Oceanscape and Shifting Tides we can see an evolution towards restlessness. Crests of foamy white form on the horizon, a prelude to a stormy sea. Finally, in Zener’s impressive diptych Surging II the storm rages in full force.

     

    In Zener’s view, through consciously observing the natural movement of water we may arrive at wisdom. “The ocean, in all its moods, becomes a visual language for transformation. Just as the sea can shift from still to surging without warning, so too we can move between hope and grief, love and fear. These works invite reflection on the ever- changing tides within us: how emotions rise, crash, and eventually settle again. In this, there is beauty, vulnerability, and resilience.”

     

    The conception of the ocean as expressive of internal life extends to Zener's choices

    regarding pigment. “By removing color and focusing solely on a monochromatic palette, I aim to heighten the emotional contrast inherent in these scenes. The stark duality underscores the intensity of our inner worlds: the moments when we feel overtaken by stormy emotion and those rare, quiet stretches of calm. Black and white strips away emotion, allowing the viewer to engage more directly with form, movement, and the emotional weight of each piece.”

     

    Zener’s work has been shown in the United States and internationally since 1988. He has had numerous solo exhibitions and been represented in many group shows at Gallery Henoch in New York City. His work has been acquired by a variety of personal, corporate, and public collectors.

     

    Gallery Henoch, 555 West 25th St. (between 10th and 11th Ave). Subway: C or E to 23rd St. Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:30 am - 6:00 pm or by appointment. Free and open to the public. Contact the gallery at 1.917.305.0003 or info@galleryhenoch.com for additional information.

    Download Press Release
  • Virtual Exhibition