Veronique Wantz Gallery is excited to present Steve Ozone’s first solo exhibition, No Claim, at the gallery (Feb. 1 - Mar. 22, 2025).

Steve Ozone's No Claim show highlights the artist’s present-day fascination with objects from the natural world, including intimate photographs of flowers, fruit, vegetables, sea creatures, and the occasional mind-blowing closeups of duck and turkey paws. No Claim photographs display not only Ozone's adroit technical prowess, but also his uncanny ability to transform everyday objects into otherworldly, beautiful and mysterious entities. His work makes viewers look closely and discover details that might otherwise go unnoticed. Ozone skillfully juxtaposes his objects against stark black backgrounds, magnifying intricate minutiae and surface qualities that make each object in his No Claim exhibition unique and compelling. According to Ozone, "Isolating subjects onto a black background focuses the viewer’s eyes on the nuances and subtleties of the object and brings a heightened sense of drama and contemplation." 

About the artist:

Steve Ozone is a photographer and filmmaker based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His photography primarily focuses on natural objects such as flowers and vegetables set against a black background, as well as portraits of people from all walks of life, often standing against a white backdrop. The son of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Ozone’s roots often inform his work with interwoven themes of immigration and culture. Growing up in Rochester, New York, his love of photography blossomed in high school as photographer of the school marching band, leading him to pursue a degree in Photojournalism from Ball State University in Indiana. His creative arc spans various projects over the past several decades, including earlier commercial work shooting ad campaigns and portraits for the Dayton-Hudson Corporation. More recently, he co-produced a documentary film project, The Registry, which tells the stories of 7,000 Japanese language students stationed at Fort Snelling during World War II (recruited from internment camps) and their little-known role assisting in the U.S. Military Intelligence Service. Additionally, Ozone is well-known for his ambitious 2019 public art project featuring a selection of his photographs that were transformed into huge murals made of several giant sheets of perforated aluminum installed and seen on the outside of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Silver Ramp. The massive panels feature Minnesota immigrants from Croatia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Poland and Syria.

Steve Ozone's work is exhibited in local and international galleries, as well as private collections.

For additional print sizes and for general sales inquiries, please email: gallery@veroniquewantz.com.