Sheldon Greenberg

Born in Louisiana and raised in the mid-west, Sheldon Greenberg moved to Southern California as a teenager and was immediately entranced by its landscape, architecture and light. After completing college in San Jose, he moved to New York to study art at the Art Students League, and went on to earn his MFA inpainting at the California College of Art in the early 1990s. Since 2003 he has been a professor at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, teaching Color Theory, Design, Composition, Abstract and Figurative painting.

Artist Statement:

"After 30 years of painting very realistic figurative works for advertising, design studios, books, magazines and newspapers I began to explore a more intuitive approach.

My mixed media paintings revolve around many things but mainly I am painting about the environment and landscape in which I live. I enjoy using dots and stripes as a way to create patterns within the composition for harmony.

Contrasts are a big part in the compositions, scale, figure/ground plane, texture/smooth, areas of simple vs. complex and layers from the beginning stages thru to the finished piece, showing the history of the process.

Give and take, adding and subtracting until the right balance between random marks and more specific areas of finish which puts it in the realm of what I categorize as abstracted realism."

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Clowns To The Left Of Me Jokers To The Right, (After Watteau)

Biography

Sheldon Greenberg is a Bay Area–based painter whose work is driven by a deep fascination with contrast, memory, perception, and the evolving language of visual expression. Early in his artistic journey, Greenberg was drawn to highly realistic figure painting and developed a strong foundation as an illustrator and photo-realistic painter. Over time, his interests shifted toward a more intuitive and abstract approach, embracing color, shape, texture, and pattern as central forces in his work.

After establishing himself in illustration and design, Greenberg returned to California to focus on his own creative voice, transitioning from literal representation toward compositions that balance figurative roots with abstraction and expressive layering. His practice encompasses a diverse array of techniques — including painting, collage, screen printing, and mixed media. Often exploring the dynamic interplay between figure and ground, realism and abstraction.

Greenberg’s paintings draw from personal experiences, cultural imagery, and the environments that surround him, evolving into visual narratives that are as rich in color and texture as they are in idea. His work has been featured in galleries and museum exhibitions, and he brings a lifetime of learning and experimentation to both his studio practice and his role as an educator.