Jimmy O'Neal

Jimmy O’Neal, a classically trained painter, continually explores and expands the physical and metaphorical capabilities of the medium. Through his work, he creates experiences that call forth the universal impulses of the human condition that exists underneath the surface of our consciousness. He strives to represent the unseen visual poetry of the frequencies that surround and interact with our senses. His interest in physics, science, and biology led him to develop such technological innovations as mirrored paint, which is used in the creation of large-scale paintings that are intended to envelop the viewer. He further examines science and the body in such artworks as “brain machine,” a device that produces paintings generated from the artist's EEG readings in response to external stimuli.

O’Neal has exhibited in galleries and museums such as The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, and the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art. He received his BFA in Illustration and MFA in painting from Savannah College of Art and Design. His work has been commissioned by private and public institutions such as the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. O’Neal is a successful public artist that has created works for the Cobb Energy Building in Atlanta, Georgia; the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS); and the HanesBrands Theatre, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Most recently his public work Seven Cymatic Sonata for CATS was recognized as one of the 50 best Public Art Commissions in 2012 by The Public Art Network, a program of the Americans for the Arts.