Robin Rose retreated from Washington DC to the safety of his Delaware beach cabin to create the paintings for his Spring 2021 show. From there, he was able to open himself up to the drama transpiring before our eyes. As the work progressed, it became apparent that each painting would make tangible his internal responses to conditions created by the pandemic and the political madness of the past year. There are 19 paintings in the group. Rose begins each, not with an image in mind, but a title. Focusing first on the title, he dispenses with any need for superfluous consistency in style. Rose was free to unleash the virtuosity of his encaustic painting skills in service to pure expression. As we have looked to the art from the past to map the evolution of our culture, Rose brings in to view the changes in which we are presently engaged.
Robin Rose (American, born 1946) works within the demanding field of encaustic painting.Through an incomparable mastery of this difficult medium, one of the oldest forms of painting, Rose presents concepts germinated from the latest technological advancements, archeological discoveries, and systems analysis. Rose's abstractions suggest something familiar, driving the viewer towards an intuitive understanding of complex content through a far-reaching variety of color, textures and visual effects. Robin Rose’s work is included in the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and The Phillips Collection, Washington DC, among other private and public collections.
Artist: Robin Rose
Copyright: HEMPHILL Artworks
Interviews: Interviews with Robin Rose, Artist by George Hemphill
Video Footage & Editing: Hannah Davis
Music: Performed and Recorded by Robin Rose