A selection of new paintings by American artist Charlie Roberts. Currently based in Oslo, Roberts’ work takes inspiration from pop culture, hiphop, comics, folk art, as well as artists like Henri Matisse, James Ensor, and Florine Stettheimer. Marking his first presentation in Taipei, “Short Cuts” offers up an investigation into what it means for the modern subject to grow, create, and achieve. Here Roberts can be seen pushing his elongated figures toward a new register as he explores the pursuit of happiness, central to American Cinema.
“Staged to resemble shots ranging from Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused to Mary Harron’s American Psycho, Roberts’s images mimic — while retaining his signature treatment of perspective — the composition and narrative openness inherent to the format of film stills… If the cinema is said to be a world that exists just adjacent to ours, then the works invite the viewers to project themselves onto the carefully crafted scenes. Rather than acting as a form of escapism, however, the projections lead right back to the real world; as the thematics become clear — work, labour, and the pleasure that rests in completion — the paintings insist upon the world we inhabit and the ambitions we project on to it.”
See more images below or on display with WOAW Gallery at the Taipei World Trade Center May 20 – 22nd.