Shaun Roberts: Reflections Aand Omens

July 13 - August 07,2024

From Gallery Main Street: "An art show, REFLECTIONS AND OMENS, will open July 13^th in Downtown Tyler. The art show will feature most recent painting by Shaun Roberts, a Texas based artist. This will be Roberts first solo exhibit at the civic Gallery Main Street organized and curated by Dace Kidd. Shaun Roberts received his BFA in painting from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2010 and earned his MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Washington in 2012. Upon graduation from the University of Washington, Shaun was awarded the Joan Mitchel Foundation Grant for graduating MFA students. He was recently awarded a residency to work alongside painter Odd Nerdrum in Norway for over two months. Shaun is currently an associate professor of art at Stephen F. Austin State University and painting area coordinator. Shaun has been in several group and solo exhibitions spanning over 20 states, including First Street Gallery, NY, Art Museum of South East Texas, TX, Southern Mississippi Museum of Art, MS Eastern Kentucky University, KY Museum of East Texas, TX and the Gadsden Museum of Art, AL.   Throughout the paintings, one can find themes of desperation, the enduring human spirit, and its capacity for redemption. Time and place are unmoored, conjuring a post-industrial society, perhaps depicting another era or universe altogether. My paintings attempt to unearth and understand mysteries and terrors about ourselves. The characters are in ambiguous settings, possibly post-war, ecological disasters, economic collapse, or what your imagination may conjure. Common symbols and allegories tie the works together, ranging from bells to divining rods in an almost ritualistic manner that could represent superstitions developed in an attempt to sustain life.   What is interesting to me, regardless of setting or circumstance, are the interactions of the characters with one another or with the viewer, and how a kind of community exists and supports one another even when things seem to be falling apart. Today, storytelling is more relevant than ever as we have become immersed in digital worlds, where our devices have replaced meaningful relationships, detached us from reality, and distorted our perception of empathy. Engaging the paintings is tantamount to watching our fate snap back to us like a boomerang. They delve deep into the ambivalent nature of our society. By highlighting the simultaneity of time and experience in our divisive world, these works capture the perils of today's news while also painting unsettling portraits of what may lie ahead. Within each work, a vein of grace pulses, a redemptive potential yearning to be tapped.   The event has been sponsored and couldn’t be possible without the support of: Gallery Main Street, Tyler Art Lift and Green Cat Consulting. "

Artist talk: July 18, 2024 | 12-12 am

Gallery Main Street (Tyler) 110 North College Avenue, Suite 105
Tyler, Texas 75702
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