Edward was born in 1988 in rural Upstate New York. He grew up surrounded by drawings and paintings by his late grandfather who he unfortunately never met. He, also named Edward Givis, studied at the Art Students League in New York City in the 1940s alongside many now-considered historically significant modern artists. Although nothing of his was ever exhibited due to an unfortunately young passing, Givis sources the work he found as a child in his grandmother's attic as his arts education.
Givis went to college in New York City and moved to Southern California in 2013. Since 2016 he’s been included in various group shows and has had solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, CA.
The subjects that populate Givis’ drawings and paintings toe the line between drama and comedy, between love letters and moments of unease. Drawing on a range of sources, from his own photographs and everyday moments with his family, to cinema and online archives. Givis work is drawn from his own personal history and relationship with subjects. He searches for the moment that the viewer's mental rolodex begins spinning with their own familiarity and his when his passion for ‘the most beautifully generic moment’ in an image is accomplished.