Seth Armstrong is a Los Angeles-based oil painter that has honed his craft in Northern Holland and Oakland. He holds a BFA from California College of Arts in San Francisco. Whether he’s painting urban landscapes, creating narrative portraits or combining elements of the two, Armstrong’s work conveys a sense of intimacy with its subjects, breath-taking light, hyperrealism and humor.
Born in 1983 and raised in Los Angeles, Armstrong moved to the Bay Area to begin his artistic education and career, exhibiting his early work all over Oakland and San Francisco. While studying abroad in Holland, he fell in love with the tactile qualities of oil paint and its ability to capture light. His realistic yet dramatic visual sensibilities have lent themselves to a prolific career as a commercial illustrator. His work has enlivened advertisements and articles all over Europe and North America, as well as concerts for artists such as Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj.
After building a solid body of work in Oakland, Armstrong moved back home to Los Angeles, where his creative output and visual style has blossomed exponentially.
His paintings have been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe in venues including Unit London (UK), Evoke Contemporary (Santa Fe, NM), ThinkSpace Gallery (Los Angeles), Spoke Art Gallery (NY/SF), Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Urban Nation Contemporary Urban Art Museum (Berlin), and more. He has also been featured in international art fairs such as SCOPE, the LA Art Fair, and Moniker in London.
Armstrong lives and works in Los Angeles.
Selected Exhibitions
2023 Tokyo Gendai, Asia Art Center, Tokyo, Japan
2023 Loneliness and Other False Friends, Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
2023 ART SG, Stephen Wong and Seth Armstrong, Unit London booth, Singapore
2022 Unit London Takeover, Nassima Landau Art Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel
2022 JINGART Fair, Asia Art Center, Beijing, China
2021 Overlook, Unit London, London, UK - Solo Exhibit
2020 Drawn Together, Unit London, London, UK
2020 New Work, Evoke Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM - Solo Exhibit
2020 Angels In the Architecture, Talon Gallery, Portland, OR
2020 15 Years of Thinkspace, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Context Contemporary Art Fair, Hashimoto Contemporary, Miami, FL
2019 Scope International Contemporary Art Fair, Miami Beach, FL
2019 12 x 12, Spoke Art Gallery, NY, NY
2019 Celestial Spaces, Evoke Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2019 LAX/ORD II, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL
2019 Scenic Overlook, Evoke Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2018 Li’l Baja’s Last Ride, Museum of Art and History (MOAH), Lancaster, CA - Solo Exhibit
2018 Wish You Were Here, Stolen Space Gallery, London, UK
2018 12 x 12, Scope Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018 Pow!Wow! Exploring the New Contemporary Art Movement, Honolulu Museum of Art School, Honolulu, HI
2018 Illustrating Resistance, Hubbell Street Gallery, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2018 Illustrators 60, Museum of American Illustration, New York, NY
2017 Scope Miami Beach, Miami Beach, FL
2017 LAX/JFK, Scope Art, New York, NY
2017 Drinkin' Smokin' West Coastin', Think Tank Projects, Los Angels, CA
2017 LAX/DTW: Detroit Hustle II, Inner State Gallery, Detroit, MI
2017 Pretty Deep Shit, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - Solo Exhibit
2016 Scope Miami, FL
2016 LAX/ORD, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL
2016 Scope International Art Fair, New York, NY
2016 Far From Me, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany
2015 LAX/LHR, StolenSpace Gallery, London
2015 Invisible College, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana
2015 LAX/DTW, Inner State Gallery, Detroit, Michigan
2015 Decade 1, Redletter1, Tampa Bay, FL
2015 Small Works, Baker Hesseldenz Fine Art, Tuscon, AZ
2015 The Air Is Thick, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - Solo Exhibit
2015 20 Years Under the Influence Of Juxtapoz, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, LA, CA
2015 10 Years Of Thinkspace, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014 LAX/SFO, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2014 LAX/TXL, Urban Nation, Berlin, Germany
2014 Scope NY, Skylight at Moynihan Station, New York, NY
2014 Pow! Wow! Exploring the New Contemporary Art Movement, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
2013 Scope Miami Beach, Scope Pavillion, Miami Beach, FL
2013 Lovin' Thy Neighbor, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles - Solo Exhibit
2013 LAX/PHIL, Gallery 309, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Vanguard, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles
2013 Kindred, Bold Hype Gallery, New York, NY
2012 Synergy, Spoke Art, San Francisco, CA
2012 Wild At Heart, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles
2011 Alcatraz Symposium on Justice & Freedom, Alcatraz Island, SF, CA
2011 Beyond Eden, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2011 Impetus, Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona
2011 Another Thing Coming, Gallery Heist, SF, CA - Solo Exhibition
2011 There It Is: Brett Amory, Adam Caldwell, and Seth Armstrong, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010 111 @ 111, 111 Minna Gallery, SF, CA
2010 Till Death Do Us Part, Gallery Heist, SF, CA
2010 Well There You Are, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - Solo Exhibition
2010 The Next Generation, London Miles Gallery, London, UK
2010 Fort Big Mountain, Seth Armstrong and Christopher Russell, 111 Minna Gallery, SF, CA
2009 Aqua Art Miami, Wynwood, Miami, FL
2009 Now or Never, Gallery Heist, San Francisco, CA
2009 Insert Metaphor Here, Seth Armstrong and Adam 5100, Redletter 1, Tampa Bay, FL
2008 Where So Ever You May Go, Rowan Morrison Gallery, Oakland, CA - Solo Exhibition
2008 Vanguard at Art Basel, Thinkspace, Miami, FL
2008 RoMoLoCoGroupShow, Rowan Morrison Gallery, Oakland, CA
2008 Common Descent, Brett Amory, Seth Armstrong, Andrew Hem, and John Wentz, 111 Minna Gallery, SF, CA
2008 Bay Area Now and Later, Cricket Engine Gallery, Oakland, CA
2008 My Vice, Space Gallery, San Fracisco, CA
2007 RoMoLoCoGroupShow, Rowan Morrison Gallery, Oakland, CA
2007 Grounded?, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
2007 In Your Eyes, The Rec Center, Los Angeles, CA
2007 Artfest, Gallery One, San Francisco, CA
2007 Modern Myths, MJ Higgins Gallery and Grey Area Gallery, Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA
2006 Emerge, GenArtSF, San Francisco, CA
2006 The Bible and Stuff, Bruce Galleries, San Francisco, CA - Solo Exhibition
2006 You, Me, Now, Hangar 1018, Los Angeles, CA
2006 Velotree, Space Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 Expo, Bruce Galleries, San Francisco, CA
2005 The Tour, Papa Dutch Gallery, Groningen, The Netherlands - Solo Exhibition
2005 The Day Before I Leave, Hangar 1018, Los Angeles, CA
2005 The Foreigners Paint Good, Academie Minerva, Groningen, The Netherlands
2004 Them Apples, Center Gallery, Oakland, CA