Real/Surreal: Robert Nelson

Whether working in black and white or color, creating with graphite and charcoal, or graphite, white pencil and acrylic, Robert Nelson’s work mixes the hyper-realistic and the surreal. Likewise, his subjects combine the familiar with the unexpected. For Nelson, whose beautifully detailed images take elements of icons, classic art, and pop culture, it’s all about “images that are defined differently by each observer. An image where their experiences, prejudices and beliefs all combine into the final experience of the artwork.”

Nelson’s startlingly vivid images are strung together to create an entirely new perspective on iconic visual stories. “It comes down to one’s world view. Some are lucky enough to develop a world view through acquisition of unbiased knowledge, but the world view of many is pre-ordained by culture, or manipulated by institutions,” the artist says. Extremely aware that in today’s society, everyone is taking sides, he questions the status quo, the human ability to believe in personal good-heartedness in a world full of black and white, good vs. evil divides. “It’s fascinating how meanings can change depending on point of view,” he says. That fascination is on full display in Nelson’s art.

The San Diego-based artist combines images that are disturbing, amusing, and intellectually stimulating: in short, images that evoke a powerful response in the viewer. So many questions, so many works. Color pieces utilize a palette of bright, almost incandescent primary colors; black and white works are carefully nuanced and dimensional.

Nelson’s graphite and charcoal “A Good Rabbit: The Robots Will Fix That,” shows a large but daunted rabbit watching three robot figures. The startled rabbit appears to be not so sure the robots will fix things. Are we as undecided as the rabbit?

In “Leda Redux,” white pencil, acrylic, and graphite on wood panel, the classic figure of Leda holds the hot pink skeletal remains of her swan, while skeletal fish swim in what could be a nuclear reactive aqua sea. Is Leda transfixed by her dead swan? Does she notice he is just bones? Do fish still swim and birds still fly when their corporeal substance dissipates?

Overall, Nelson’s paintings and drawings pose many questions and let the ambiguous answers come to each viewer on his or her own. Not only do the beings in each piece have a distinct and different point of view, so does each viewer when entering Nelson’s evocative world.

“Insight/Outsight” features a blue-faced, purple-haired girl clad in mod late-60s era style, fingers over her eyes, peering out. Her arms are studded with carefully drawn flowers, more flowers are etched into the dark background, a cloud, or cloud of smoke rises behind her. As she peeks between her bright yellow hands, is she afraid of something out there in the world, or something in herself?

“Young Robot in Love (Singularity’s Child)” is a rigidly gleeful robot with his metal heart exposed, and a radiant, icon-like halo around his head. What does love mean to a robot? Who are we to say robots can or cannot fall in love? Are we that robot?

Nelson upends our expectations and re-grounds them to an entirely different reality.

In “A Flutter in Time,” Nelson stylistically uses a Victorian Valentine’s image of a heart surrounded by blue butterflies – but the heart is no Valentine, it’s a human heart. “Future Shock” places human lips on a blue cow skull. His “Sleepytime” shows a girl wearing bunny ears, angel wings, and a rather frightening clown mask, at her feet: a teddy bear. This is indeed the stuff of dreams you may not want to have during your “sleepy time.”

Nelson is about juxtaposition as well as expectation. He uses images that convey meaning on both an immediate and personal level, images that also seem to require the viewer to find a deeper meaning for themselves behind the themes and ideas that the artist explores. Both surreal and realistic at the same time, Nelson’s works are freighted with the weight of each viewer’s individual interpretation.

The artist has exhibited throughout California, including shows at The Gabba Gallery and Laura Schlesinger in Los Angeles. Currently, his work is on view at Gallery 825’s group show Non Sequitur, and at LA Artcore. He will be a part of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery’s Open Call in August. Get ready to go down the fascinating rabbit hole of Nelson’s art.