Mission Statement
OTTERBACH’s mission is to celebrate every day through honoring the artistic and entrepreneurial spirit of his family, finding and generating beauty, demonstrating respect for the environment, inspiring other artists by example, and supporting charitable causes through international and cross-cultural collaborations.
Bio Brief
Otterbach is a native of Southern California. The fifth of six children, he credits his parents’ own work ethics, creativity, and stable upbringing with providing him the sense of freedom to express himself. As an artist and sculptor, Otterbach uses reclaimed materials in his works of art in order to inspire sustainable and responsible practices. Otterbach embraces his affinity for painting on reclaimed metal by allowing the weathered patinas and textures of the metal to guide his color stories and intricate tonalities. OTTERBACH cuffs are wearable versions of his signature works on metal.
Otterbach has owned and operated two successful art galleries in Laguna Beach, California: Zion and OTTERBACH Contemporary Art. He currently works out of his studio in Venice, California.
Exhibitions and Commissions
2011
GROUNDFLOOR Gallery, Los Angeles, California, Exhibition: “Connections,” Otterbach’s Mixed Media on Steel and Sculpture, and works by Jerome Gastaldi, Todd Marinovich, Micah Nelson
Willie Nelson 4th of July Picnic, Fort Worth, Texas, Mixed Media on Steel
Cirello Gallery, San Diego, California, Exhibition: Mixed Media on Steel
GROUNDFLOOR Gallery, Los Angeles, California, Solo Exhibition: Mixed Media on Steel
Renegade Gallery, Palm Springs, California, Exhibition: Mixed Media on Steel and Sculpture
2010
Mirador Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Solo Exhibition: Mixed Media on Steel
H Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, Mixed Media on Steel and Sculpture
Willie Nelson 4th of July Picnic, Painting on Steel, Texas Flag featured on stage and currently hangs in Luck, Texas
The Vicino House, LEED for Homes Platinum Certified Green Property, Commissioned Mixed Media on Steel, Interior and Exterior Custom Designs
2009
Fred Segal, Los Angeles, California, Exhibition: Mixed Media on Steel
Surveillance Room, Los Angeles, California, Exhibition: Mixed Media on Steel
Inner Limits, Dana Point, California, Exhibition: Mixed Media on Steel
White Square Gallery, Boca Park, Las Vegas, Nevada, Exhibition: New Collection of Mixed Media on Steel
Sundance Film Festival, Exhibition: Mixed Media on Steel, Commissioned by Getty Images for photographer’s backdrop for The Green Lodge
2008
Panorama Towers North, Jerry Lewis Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada, Commissioned Interior and Exterior Installations: Lobby Sculpture (24’ H x 8’ W), two interior Paintings on Steel (8’ H x 7’ W), street-front exterior marquis (4’ H x 24’ W)
Create:Fixate, Los Angeles, California, Exhibition: Mixed Media on Steel
Townley Fine Art, Laguna Beach, California, Exhibition: Mixed Media on Steel
2007
Tracy Park Gallery, Santa Monica, California, Exhibition: Paintings and Wearable Art
2006
Epoxybox, Venice, California, Exhibition: Paintings on Steel
2006-2007
OTTERBACH Contemporary Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, Owner, Operator, Principal Artist
2004-2005
OTTERBACH Art Gallery, Holsum Lofts, Las Vegas, Nevada, Owner, Operator, Principal Artist
2002-2004
Zion Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, Owner, Operator, Principal Artist
2002
World Treasures Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, Solo Exhibition: Enamel on Steel Paintings
2000-2001
Metal Specialties, Monterey, California, Sculptor, Welder
Interview With Otterbach
When speaking to Otterbach about his upbringing, good nature and work ethic, Otterbach is quick to light up with the gratitude he feels for his parents, Donald and Diana, for providing a stable and comfortable foundation with which to explore the world. His family thrived in the same house from birth through his high school education. Otterbach feels very close to his mother and cherishes the special time that they spend together. In addition to providing her kids with a good home, Diana is an antique collector and, according to Otterbach, has a fine artistic eye. Donald set a solid example to his boys as a father, friend and role model. Otterbach says working in the garage with his Dad is a perfect day.
The fifth of six children, five of them boys, Otterbach developed an easy-going sociability, taking it to the extreme in sports…with his older brothers often serving as his coaches. Otterbach credits his childhood road trips in his family’s motor home with centering him on the importance of family, simple pleasures and exploring off the beaten path. This is where he discovered his inclination for making art from things that he finds in the environment, rather than from traditional media.
Otterbach has displayed an entrepreneurial spirit since he was a child. At the age of 6 he sold day-old bread from a red Radio Flyer wagon as the son of the District Manager for a major premium bakery. Otterbach has successfully owned and operated a number of businesses such as Budderstix skateboards, Valid board wear, Advantage Limousine Service, and Zion Auto Salon auto detailing.
When Otterbach was 12, a family tragedy profoundly changed his reality. His teenage sister and her friends lost their lives when a drunk driver crashed into their car. It is important to Otterbach to keep her artistic and vibrant spirit alive. Otterbach maintains an exhaustive schedule of creating, networking and inspiring his fellow artists.
A stuntman at heart, Otterbach first realized that he was compelled to dedicate his life to art when he transformed an old truck hood into a stunning, original sculpture. His first painting – executed on sheet metal using a pallet knife to mold the paint on the steel – was a life-altering experience. Otterbach allows the origin and terrain of the metal to guide him as he translates the story. When viewing an OTTERBACH work of art, one has the sense of that energy released in his translation. Otterbach further facilitates that energy by mounting his paintings with a magnet. Otterbach’s talent to help people release admiration and emotion is what we have always counted on the artists among us to do.
The popularity of OTTERBACH Cuffs resulted in more of Otterbach’s out of-the-box thinking and began as a means for him to share his art with a broader section of friends, charities, and collectors that the scale and labor of his paintings would not permit. The sheer number of inquiries to purchase cuffs made it clear to Otterbach that he was onto an idea that moved people. With this, OTTERBACH Designs was launched.
Ultimately, OTTERBACH Art and OTTERBACH Designs encompass all of Otterbach’s most valued beliefs: community work, fierce independence, uncovering art in everything, and pursuing one’s dreams.