“The Debt you Owe” by Oliver James

Renowned muralist and artist Oliver James presents a powerful solo exhibit aimed at shedding light on the oppression inherent in capitalist societies. Through original paintings and prints, James confronts the often-overlooked history of indigenous genocide and oppression upon which economic superpowers like the USD and Yuan are built.


About the Artist:

Oliver “liv” James is a graphic artist, muralist and street artist who lives and works in the Washington, D.C. area. From D.C., much of her time was spent in the Denver, CO metro area. Her striking art pays homage to the oppressed communities around the world.

Her work includes many powerful and often controversial images but not to be mistaken, the darkness that comes with such provocative topics does not stop her from using pops of color and beautiful and bright mixed media.

Flowers jutting out of the barrel of a gun and growing out of a noose set in an empty frame, indigenous men and women on currency, and colorful graphics portraits of powerful leaders are all brought to life with multi-layer stenciling and mixed media. As the artist explains, “I am just a street artist painting what is on my mind, and I think about the ones that society wants us to forget.”

As a child James had an informal art education, excelling in art classes through high school and always sketching at home and all of her other classes. As she accumulated a personal collection of her work that she dare not do anything with, her art teachers urged her to enter a local contest and to take her art education further.

From a young age, she knew that she wanted to be an entrepreneur and she graduated from Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado with a bachelor’s in business administration in 2016.

Her business education not only allowed her to use her deep imagination and creative thinking but exposed her to a world of economics and business where Black and brown and indigenous people don’t see equal or equitable representation. This inadvertently shaped her art as much as her artistry shapes her entrepreneurial aspirations.