Robert Nava
PROJECT
Robert Nava has described his works as ‘often playful paintings that deal with absurdities of everyday life and extreme situations’. Infusing the traditional but now clichéd machismo of ‘action’ painters such as Jackson Pollock with fantastical imagery, Nava invites viewers to reconnect with the unbridled imagination of their childhoods. The beast depicted here has the green body of the wood dragon, the traditional symbol of the 2024 Chinese New Year celebrations, which signifies auspicious progress and harmony. Grafted onto this dragon’s body, though, is an ambiguous cat’s face spitting lightning, suggesting latent violence waiting to be released.
ABOUT
Using spray paint, acrylics and grease pencil to create fantastical imagery, Robert Nava challenges the pretentious stereotypes associated with ‘high art’. Borrowing imagery from art history and contemporary culture, he constantly reworks ideas in his sketchbook before painting the final work with impulsive speed. He graduated with a BFA from Indiana University followed by an MFA in painting from Yale in 2011. Nava’s work can be found in the collection of Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris (France); the Art Institute of Chicago (US); Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (US); Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (US); the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (US); the Columbus Museum of Art (US); Orange County Museum of Art, Santa Ana (US); and Zuzeum Art Center, Riga (Latvia).