Roberts is a polymath, a cultural magpie. His various endeavours cross-pollinate, building myths amongst themselves. Roberts’ works borrow from art-historical and pop cultural sources. His cramped paintings display the perspectival complexity of ancient Egyptian and Byzantine painting. The contents are stacked one above the other, showing different views simultaneously. Roberts is fearless in his approach to subject, style and technique. The result is full of energy, determination and a unique expression which draws on the illusion of the good life and shows a fascination of hip-hop culture. The subject matter, utterly contemporary, banal and everyday is at odds with the delicacy of the medium they are made in. Watercolour on paper, over a painted pink ground which unifies the overall image and brings harmonious tonal order to the chaotic scenarios. His wide-ranging practice also encompasses sculptures roughly carved from chunks of local trees and painted, sitting somewhere between tribal objects, folk art and pop-cultural figures. (Courtesy of Galleri Golsa)
Charlie Roberts is educated at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancover, Canada and Kansas University, USA. Recent exhibitions include: Cosmis Hedge, Galleri Golsa, Oslo (2019), New ”Bad” Painting, V1 Gallery, København (2018), No Ceilings, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, Sverige (2017), Windows, David Risley Gallery, København, Danmark (2017), Laffy Taffy, Rod Bianco Gallery, Oslo, Norway (2017), Fan Art, Richard Heller Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2017), Juicy, Marlborough Contemporary, London, UK (2016), Halcyon Daze, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, USA (2016).
Artifacts
A group show curated by Joakim Ojanen
Oct 24 — Dec 1, 2019
Pastoral Psychedelia
With a text by Domenico de Chirico
Jul 13 — Aug 25, 2019
Charlie Roberts at Cascina Gilli / Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy
Daily Lazy — Jul 24, 2019
Pastoral Psychedelia by Charlie Roberts
Artmirror — Jul 25, 2019