Brad Robson (b. 1976) is a painter and muralist. Originally from Sydney, Australia, his art can be seen worldwide. With multi-story works adorning buildings in Berlin, Los Angeles, New York and Barcelona, Robson leaves a growing impression on the art world. For his gallery works, Robson paints exclusively with oils. With exhibitions in the UK, Europe, Australia and the US, he is fast building a reputation as one of the most exciting new painters in the contemporary scene.
In the studio, Robson paints works of sweet pop-culture nostalgia - then subjects them to attack. Erasing squeegee strokes disfigure iconic figures, transforming them into something new. Something more. Gods from art, cinema and cartoon culture are assaulted, detained and questioned. It’s a traumatic process but through it something impossible happens. He brings the dry husks of our cultural dead back to life.
By damaging immortal, unchanging pop-exteriors, Robson gives a glimpse of what has been lost. He restores to Marilyn Monroe the vivacious life stolen by a million knock-off coffee mugs and t-shirts. On Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse, he casts a spell of real-world believability, far stronger than any cast by a Disney fairy. To each and every pop-culture icon he paints – he gives back an essence of truth and immediacy we’ve long since lost. His work changes the unchangeable, makes it immediate and brings it so close we can almost reach out and touch it. So real it seems to breathe. That, itself, is more than a little bit magic...
