Edwin Charles Oberbeck was born in Woodriver, Illinois in 1951.  Painting in oil and watercolors, Oberbeck creates delightful fantasies.  He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Oberbeck earned a BFA from Brigham Young University in 1976.  He later earned an MFA from the University of Utah (1981).  In the course of his studies, he developed his “magical reality” paintings.  By juggling the formal elements of his paintings—taking images out of still lifes and interiors and placing them in nonspecific environments, altering the texture of the paint he uses, or using perspective in a different way, Oberbeck creates an ambiguous realm where everyday images are transformed by his act of creating.  Artist Painting the Sun and Magical Night are examples of his whimsical view.

Biographical information on this page was adapted from Artists of Utah.