Eastern Projects Gallery is proud to present the debut solo exhibition of painter Eric Sanders. Abstractions premieres a bold new body of abstract paintings from the artist, drawing upon a reservoir of untapped creativity that he built up over thirty years working solely in the business world. Now retired from entrepreneurship, Sanders has made a 180o turn to devote his entire life to the arts, his original passion.

As a child, Sanders was introduced to the joys of painting by his father, and honed his craft for most of his youth and adolescence. Like many people in our society, Sanders eventually believed it was time to “grow up.” He entered the business world after completing his education and embarked on a remarkably successful career as a multi-business entrepreneur. For thirty years, he never touched a paint brush or created art of any kind, though he was endlessly drawn to exploring museums and watching documentary films.

When he retired in 2015, Sanders became an avid art collector, filling his home with classic works as well as supporting local and internationally renowned artists. Sensing the creative spirit that was behind his interests, a friend bought him a set of paint and paintbrushes and encouraged him to try his hand at art again. As soon as Sanders began painting, he was hooked, and hasn’t put down his brush since.

“I was really surprised when I started to paint again that I still had it—I thought creativity was something you only had when you were young,” says Sanders. “But for thirty years I went to museums and absorbed so much art as a spectator, that when I started to paint again I found I had this huge reservoir of inspiration that was sort of waiting for me to tap into it. It never went away. It was just in my brain, waiting for me to translate it to canvas.”

Since the start of 2017, Sanders has created hundreds of new paintings, drawing on influences from greats such as Basquiat, Dali, de Kooning, Picasso, and many more. In his explorations, he has created dozens of figurative and landscape pieces—but his greatest passion has been for the abstract. In Abstractions , Sanders will premiere 40 abstract works on canvas along 40 digital artworks, some incorporating mixed media, and all created in an aesthetic flow specifically for this show. In addition to the new body of work, this is also Sanders’ debut as an artist.

“For me it’s been a very odd identity shift,” he says. “For thirty years being an adult and having a business persona, and now changing it to something so dramatically different is strange to me.”

Abstractions will be on view for two days only, beginning Friday, September 27 and closing Saturday, September 28, 2019. All proceeds will be donated to the Sanders Family Foundation. Eastern Projects Gallery is located at 900 N Broadway #1090, Los Angeles, CA 90012.