Tom Lieber (b. 1949 -) is an abstract painter and printmaker. Lieber's large-scale abstractions make use of fluid marks placed against a layered, neutral background. Informed by nature, specifically the surrounding landscapes of his home in Hawaii, Lieber's work reflects his efforts to channel his interior life onto the canvas in an intuitive manner. Lieber's use of gesture stems from the abstract expressionist tradition exemplified by Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline; yet, his subtle color and tonal variations reveal an affinity to the painterly minimalism of Brice Marden.

The early canvases from the 1970s consist of expansive, monochromatic color zones that, over time, take on increasingly explicit and more painterly gestures.1 Lieber's later work represents a more physical and powerful approach. Oftentimes, a single brushstroke or gesture anchors the painting, allowing the underlying color fields and tonal variations to recede and advance across the ground.

Tom Lieber is a recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts Grant and has exhibited extensively since 1974. In 2003, the Honolulu Contemporary Museum in Hawaii organized a major show of his work. His paintings and monotypes are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Tate Gallery, London.

Sources include: 1-Carter Ratcliff, Utopian Contingencies: The Paintings of Tom Lieber; Tom Lieber: Recent Paintings (San Francisco: Hackett-Freedman Gallery, 2003).