Alluring Nudes, Lush Portraits, and Erotic Oysters - Paintings by Nadine Robbins
American painter Nadine Robbins’ contemporary style is distinguished by a masterly command of academic painting techniques paired with an irreverence for rules, gender and beauty. Much of the painter’s practice focuses on themes of defiance, and a singular form of eroticism that is presented from a new and unexpected perspective. In particular, Robbins has earned great admiration for her iconoclastic nudes, as well as an ongoing series of portraits that oscillate between the mysterious and the candid. There is also a remarkable group of oyster still life paintings that in their lush precision seem to achingly intersect genres of eroticism and the still life.
Overall, Robbin’s use of luscious jewel toned paint and high-fidelity realism ties the artist to the late twentieth century and contemporary traditions of hyper-realism, photo-realism, and super-realism. Like Chuck Close, the artist uses a similar photographic and painterly process to produce dynamic contemporary portraits. Robbins’ montage-like use of atelier technique and way of working adds to the oeuvre, a studied complexity that is enticing and refined.
It can be said that Robbin’s work is decidedly at the intersection of identity politics presenting the feminine form in new and unexpected ways, allowing a dynamic to evolve between the viewer and the viewed, and as well upsetting the traditional roles of the male gaze and the feminine subject. This inversion of accepted norms and structures of power is related to a trend in contemporary art, seen in current practitioners such Kehinde Wiley wherein the artist’s painting of ordinary people is set within symbolic structures and emblematic themes. Robbins for her part uses the genre of portraiture and nudity to express a similar sense of irreverence for societally assigned roles, and as well uses her work to evoke a feminine perspective or sense of sexuality, eroticism and self.
Artist:
Nadine Robbins
January 10, 1966, American Born in New York City
Education, Exhibitions, Awards
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design, Magna Cum Laude, USA,
Fellowship, International Design Education Foundation
Exchange Student at Middlesex Polytechnic, London
Exhibitions
SELECTED SOLO, GROUP AND UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS and FAIRS
2019
Food for Thought, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, February 28-March 30, New York, NY
Painting Today, International Women’s Day, March 8 - May 5, Meam Museum, Barcelona, Spain
Greenwich/Westchester International Art Fair, February 28- March 3, Purchase, NY
Gallery Artelibre 1999-2019 - 20 years commemoration, Meam Museum, Barcelona, Spain
ABFA 15 Year Anniversary Show, Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts, 7 December 2018 - 26 January 2019, Binghampton, NY
2018
Figurative Realism, Curated by Dirk Dzimirsky, Gallery at Zhou B Arts Center, Chicago
2nd Annual Juried Exhibition, Curated by Frank Bernarducci, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art (WMOCA) WI
10th Annual Nude Exhibition, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
13th Annual group show, International Guild of Realism, Sugarman Peterson Gallery, Sante Fe, NM
Recipe, The Vendue in association with Robert Lange Gallery, Charleston, SC
Fresh Start Collective, Hamptons Juried Art Show to benefit The Retreat, RJD Gallery, NY
Perspectives of the American Experience, 2018 Annual National Juried Exhibition, American Women Artists, Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY
2017
Big Art Small Canvas, RJD Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
First Annual Juried Exhibition, Curated by Alyssa Monks, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art (WMOCA) WI
Poets and Artists, Arcadia Contemporary, Culver City, CA
Women Painting Women, RJD Gallery, South Hampton, NY
12th Annual group show, International Guild of Realism, Winfied Gallery, Carmel, CA
Dissent, Sparrow Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Attention to Detail, Robert Lange Studios, Charleston, SC
Formation, A Painting Survey in conjunction with Poets & Artists, Bernarducci.Meisel, New York, NY
2016
Chévere, Sirona Fine Arts, Hallandale Beach, FL
Art, Oysters, and The Billion Oyster Project, Starr Library, Rhinebeck, NY
Women Painting Women, RJD Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
TWELVE, Robert Lange Studios, Charleston, SC
Reinventing Ourselves from a Different Point of View, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
Nudes Beyond the Prado, Brill Gallery, North Adams, MA
40 years, 40 artists, The Mark Gruber Gallery, New Paltz, NY
2016 Mod Portrait, Sala Bantierra de Zaragoza, Zaragoza and Museo Meam de Barcelona, Spain
Freak Out!, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
2015
Trio Exhibition, Oil Water Bronze, Sirona Fine Arts, Hallandale Beach, FL
7th Annual NUDES Exhibition, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Immortality and Vulnerability, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
The Artists gaze: Seeing women in the 21st Century, Sirona Fine Arts, Hallandale Beach, FL
2014
Art Undressed, International Nude Art Exhibition, Miami, FL
Fixation, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
2013
In The Flesh 4, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
Current Hues of the Hudson, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel, NY
2012
Blue, Saugerties Performing Arts Factory, Saugerties, NY
Disrobed, The Mark Gruber Gallery, New Paltz, NY
2011
In The Flesh 3, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Show, London, United Kingdom
Solo Exhibition, Eight Portrait Peaces, Brill Gallery, North Adams, MA
2010
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Show, London, United Kingdom
Awards
SELECTED HONORS, AWARDS, COLLECTIONS
2019
Winner for inclusion into the Greenwich/Westchester International ArtFair competition, Spring 2019
2018
The Top 100 Figurative Painters Working Now, Buzzfeed
Finalist, 13th Annual group show, International Guild of Realism. Keep Calm and Eat Oysters
Finalist, American Women Artist Spring Online Juried Show, Smoking Dragon
Acquired by The Count Ibex Collection, I Will Survive and Davida
Finalist, 13th Annual Art Renewal Salon, Twosome
Finalists, 8th International Painting Annual, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, Serafina, Sativa Sunrise
2017
The Top 100 Figurative Realists Working Now, BuzzFeed
Finalist, American Women Artist National Juried Exhibition at the Rockwell Museum, Sativa Sunrise
Finalist, 1st Annual Juried Exhibition, WMOCA, Curated by Alyssa Monks, I Will Survive
Finalist, Artist Magazine Competition, Portraits/Figurative, Serafina
Finalist, 12th Annual group show, International Guild of Realism. 2 Oysters and a Spoon
Acceptance into The International Guild of Realism
Associate Member with distinction American Women Artists
The Puffin Foundation grant recipient for the project called "Oysters: The Art of Conserving a Species"
2016
Finalists, 12th Annual Art Renewal Salon, Sativa Sunrise and Oyster Selfie on Ice
Finalist, 2016 Mod Portrait, Sala Bantierra de Zaragoza, Zaragoza AND Museo Meam de Barcelona, Spain, Sativa Sunrise
Poets and Artists, 50 Memorable Painters of 2015, by GOSS183 Publishing Group
2015
Cover of Poets and Artists 62, Immortality and Vulnerability Issue, GOSS183 Publishing Group, She-Ra
Finalist, The Artist's Magazine Annual Art Competition,
Acquired by The Howard and Judith Tullman Art Collection, Double Gulp
2014
Creative Nude Art Erotic Signature’s Art Competition Finalists, Moxie, and Eggsistencial
Finalist, The Artist’s Magazine 31st Annual Art Competition, Mrs. McDonald
2013
2013 Ten memorable paintings, The Huffington Post Arts Blog, Mrs. McDonald
Acquired by The Howard and Judith Tullman Art Collection, Moxie
Acopal Exhibition of Contemporary American Realism Finalist, Molly and Zoe, 48” x 72”, Oil on Linen
2011
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters 2011 Annual Show, Acacia and the Bowman, 48” x 72”, Oil on Linen
2010
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters 2010 Annual Show, The Rolling Buns, 48” x 72”, Oil on Linen
SELECT PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS
2018
The Top 100 Figurative Painters Working Now, Buzzfeed
2017
The Top 100 Figurative Painters Working Now, September
Kloosterboer on Formation, January 2017
2016
Art in Good Taste, by Max Gillies, May/June Food Issue, Fine Art Connoisseur
Neither Painting Nor Disco Is Dead, And Here’s The Art Show To Prove It, by Priscilla Frank Arts Writer, The Huffington Post
Probing Portraits by Nadine Robbins, Ali Cavanaugh, and Gary Weisman at Sirona Fine Art, By Grace-Yvette Gemmell, Artsy Editorial
2015
Poets and Artists, 50 Memorable Painters of 2015, by GOSS183 Publishing Group
The World's Greatest Erotic Art of Today, Volume 5, by Erotic Signature
On the Cover: Nadine Robbins, Jessica Jones, Chronogram
The Naked Truth, WAG Magazine, by Georgette Gouveia
Howard Tullman's heavily caffeinated life, Shia Kapos, Crain's Business Chicago
Cover of Poets and Artists 62, Immortality and Vulnerability Issue, by GOSS183 Publishing Group
2014
Unconventional Portraits and Oysters, Luxebeatmag.com
Featured in The Painted Nude Collection Saatchiart.com
10 Rather Eccentric Essays on Art, John Seed, The Huffington Post Arts Blog
2013
An Alluring Woman With Fries and McDonaldization in Art, By John Seed
10 Memorable Paintings from 2013 by John Seed
Artist Statement
As our current cultural climate threatens to encroach on freedom of choice, expression, sexuality and equity, my work serves to echo the reality of the American experience, one that is diverse, fluid and multifaceted. My nude and portrait paintings tell the stories of ordinary people from all walks of life paired with a sense of defiance and irreverence for societal norms regarding gendered ideas of behavior, identity, and sexuality.
The construction of a painterly image can take months and as such responds to the historic legacy of portraiture, while expressing a distinctly contemporary experience of the world. While my process is undeniably ensconced in the ways of academic painting, my subjects are by no means the traditional type; rather I search for people who have a certain emotional clarity and as well may be unconventional in their personal expression of sexuality. They might meet your glance head on, while still others just have a remarkable beauty that seems somehow unusual. Many of my subjects seem to reveal their inner lives in the portraits.
For the full statement click here https://www.nadinerobbinsart.com/the-artist/
Biography
American painter Nadine Robbins’ contemporary style is distinguished by a masterly command of academic painting techniques paired with an irreverence for rules, gender and beauty. Much of the painter’s practice focuses on themes of defiance, and a singular form of eroticism that is presented from a new and unexpected perspective. In particular, Robbins has earned great admiration for her iconoclastic nudes, as well as an ongoing series of portraits that oscillate between the mysterious and the candid. There is also a remarkable group of oyster still life paintings that in their lush precision seem to achingly intersect genres of eroticism and the still life.
Overall, Robbin’s use of luscious jewel toned paint and high-fidelity realism ties the artist to the late twentieth century and contemporary traditions of hyper-realism, photo-realism, and super-realism. Like Chuck Close, the artist uses a similar photographic and painterly process to produce dynamic contemporary portraits. Robbins’ montage-like use of atelier technique and way of working adds to the oeuvre, a studied complexity that is enticing and refined.
It can be said that Robbin’s work is decidedly at the intersection of identity politics presenting the feminine form in new and unexpected ways, allowing a dynamic to evolve between the viewer and the viewed, and as well upsetting the traditional roles of the male gaze and the feminine subject. This inversion of accepted norms and structures of power is related to a trend in contemporary art, seen in current practitioners such Kehinde Wiley wherein the artist’s painting of ordinary people is set within symbolic structures and emblematic themes. Robbins for her part uses the genre of portraiture and nudity to express a similar sense of irreverence for societally assigned roles, and as well uses her work to evoke a feminine perspective or sense of sexuality, eroticism and self.
For the full bio click here https://www.nadinerobbinsart.com/the-artist/
