Contemporary Art Now // Robert Pokorny July 13-17, 2022
Featuring: Robert Pokorny, Curated by Sasha Bogojev
July 13-17, 2022
Robert Pokorny paints raw and energetic portraits that range from highly stylized, abstract to peculiar renditions of the individual reality of each figure. He seamlessly connects the figures through color, shape, technique, and the cathartic joint that each figure consumes. Pokorny’s portraits explore an amalgam of human experiences using humor and cynicism culturally tinted by California’s counterculture movements and weird fiction.
“I use portraiture as a device through which a dialogue is opened between the artist and viewer, the artist and the outside world. Portrait as an expression of myself, the practice of the studio, the intentional dialogue between my own vision and great painters from the past. These portraits do not convey one person in particular but pictures of us all—the rich diversity of human dialogue, the moments of deep conflict, the pleasure of pure harmony and the journey of aging. These portraits are a personal marker of this time period, capturing moments that are seemingly absurd, sometimes humorous, but completely sincere.” – Robert Pokorny
Robert Pokorny (b. 1969, Merced, CA) is an American contemporary visual artist living and working in Los Angeles, California. Pokorny’s recent solo exhibitions include ‘Thinking, Staring & Smoking’ at Johansson Projects (Oakland) in 2021, ‘Modern Guilt &Blue Skies’ in 2020 and ‘Dialogue’ in 2019 at Ampersand Gallery (Portland). His work has been included in national exhibitions at Safe and Sound Gallery (VT), Ringling College of Art + Design (FL), and Hey There Projects (Joshua Tree, CA), and internationally in Denmark, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Pokorny’s most recent series, ‘Thinking,Staring & Smoking’ tackles the emotional spectrum contained in the confines of the pandemic lock down in his studio and home shared with his beloved wife and dog. Pokorny has been featured in Art Maze Magazine, Amadeus Magazine, Arte Al’ Limite, CoolHunting, Juxtapoz, Maps, Sound & Vision Podcast and Voyage LA. In 2019, his book‘Drawings’ was published by Ampersand Editions and debuted at the LA Art Book Fair. Pokorny received his BA and MFA from California State University Long Beach.
Robert Pokorny explores pandemic confinement in ‘Thinking, Staring & Smoking’ at Johansson Projects, SF Chronicle | Sep 06, 2021
“Following a year of pandemic isolation, Los Angeles artist Robert Pokorny created the work on display in “Thinking, Staring & Smoking,” a solo exhibition with paintings and drawings at Johansson Project. The unconventional, abstract portraits (with notes of Cubism) are meant to depict allegories of confinement: Some subjects look pensive, others conflicted, and many of the male figures seem to channel frustration and fear through their expressions.” Link
Chloe Saraceni for 7 x 7 Magazine | Sep 06, 2021
“Consider the all too relevant complexities of confinement—with a little humor—at Thinking, Staring & Smoking, a collection of portraits by L.A. artist Robert Pokorny. In addition to his own point of view, you might recognize some subtle nods to painters like Pablo Picasso and David Park, through September 18.”
Thinking, Staring & Smoking: An Interview with Robert Pokorny by Sasha Bogojev for Juxtapoz | July 27, 2021
“Pokorny is one of those enigmatic, hyper prolific and hard to define figures, capable of working in a variety of styles and techniques, all in the same, high quality manner. From clean line or geo form-based depictions, over cubist-like portrayals, all the way to raw illustration-like or gesture-based renditions, the LA-based artist is continuously exploring a wide range of styles and techniques.” Link
Meet Robert Pokorny, Voyage LA | November 30, 2020
Interview Link
Modern Guilt & Blue Skies: Robert Pokorny @ Ampersand Gallery, Portland, Juxtapoz | October 9, 2020
Turmoil, fear, uncertainty, anger, isolation, privilege, entitlement, one’s moral compass, guilt, injustice, disaster, destruction, death and murder—a list of words Pokorny notes as he reflects on a year that we will not soon forget. Link
Robert Pokorny’s “Dialogue” Goes to Portland, Juxtapoz | August 15, 2019
Pokorny turns classic still-life into action with his use of vibrant acrylic hues on tactile raw linen, which creates a contrast between the aesthetic of bright colors and the subtle linen surface. Link
Figure and Abstraction: Tracing Robert Pokorny’s Visual Vocabulary, Amadeus Mag | September 15, 2016
The amalgamation of technical and conceptual is a style all its own, and a great brilliance of visual artist Robert Pokorny. Balanced in texture, colors and shape, his work transcends that of one dimensional art with the presence of the subconscious, weaving dissolution with life and great certainty with chance. Link
La Naturaleza Visual de lo Abstracto, Arte Al Limite | May 3, 2015
Intuition delegates to the form by directing a measured balance between the figurative and the abstract, to develop an argument that in the decontextualization of the classic and formal, provokes an outpouring of effusiveness, color and diffusion of contours. Link
Miami Art Week 2014: Reimagining The Human Form, Cool Hunting | December 9, 2014
These figurative pieces, while highly line-based and almost invoking calligraphy, convey far more about the character’s nature than they do about physical attributes—with the emotions and energies being represented by way of color. Link
Vol.118_Robert Pokorny, MAPS | March 5, 2018
Interview Link
[display-exhibitions tag=”robert-pokorny”]