Artist Interview with Robert Pokorny ahead of his New York solo show - Lost In A Dream - with Anna Zorina Gallery

ARTCOLLECTORNEWS: In your own words, can you tell us a bit about you and your artwork?

I’ve been working as an artist in one form or another for 30+ years. As a kid I started drawing on my school desktop and was considered better than the average bear. I became consumed with art from the moment I got inadvertently placed into a high school art class. As a youth, I trained with retired doctors learning the ins and outs of table tennis in the suburbs of Modesto. I honed my mixed tape making skills as a young man, as well as applying it to my early career as a barista in Brooklyn, NY. I’ve raced my wiener dog in the wiener nationals and travelled to Europe with a Modern dancer that had 100 percent pure green eyes chasing Picasso exhibitions. I’ve created music posters for clubs, indie bands, musicians and record labels. Somewhere along the way, I got a Master’s in Fine Art degree and started exhibiting my art. I primarily create drawings and paintings that are a stylized abstract figuration, inspired from everyday life and exploring the human condition. Lately I use portraiture as an expression of myself, the practice of my studio with an intentional dialogue between my own vision and great painters of the past. These portraits are not always meant to depict 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. My paintings are a personal marker of this time period, capturing moments that are seemingly absurd, sometimes humorous, but completely sincere.

ARTCOLLECTORNEWS: What inspired you to become a studio artist?

Not sure, must have been that high school art class. Thinking about it I’ve always been drawn to the idea of creativity, and everything I was interested in somehow involved the arts. Looking back at it, this activity of making something personal, releasing it and not answering to someone else has always driven me.

ARTCOLLECTORNEWS: How has your background shaped your artistic practice?

Growing up in the subculture of California in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s has been influential in my visual development. Art books, Music, Mad magazine, Wacky Packages, Album art, Mid-century design as well as my love and involvement in tennis, basketball and ping pong subconsciously began to inform my aesthetic and discipline.

ARTCOLLECTORNEWS: How has your creative process changed over the years‍

I have always started a new project with making sketches and loose drawings, as this allows my thoughts to come into focus. However, once I start painting things have a tendency to develop or change completely. Over the years I have grown in confidence but most of all I have learned to trust the process.

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ARTCOLLECTORNEWS: Why is portraiture important to you?

I’m interested in the formal aspects of the portrait as there are countless ways to explore it. I’m not looking to make portraits in the historical sense, but rather in using the structure of the portrait as a concept. This free’s me up to approach it unconventionally, and I can reimagine the idea of a portrait from a different perspective.

ARTCOLLECTORNEWS: Are there any particular artists or movements that have greatly influenced your work? In what way?

I’ve been inspired or influenced by so much, ranging from the canons of art history, popular culture and the graphic arts. All of it a resource that I’ve filtered consciously and subconsciously over the years.  My first aha moment with art was seeing the paintings of Francis Bacon in person, his intensity of isolated color, mark making, and abstraction connected deep within me and the psychological drama had me mesmerized. Discovering Picasso was an inspiration in terms of what is possible with the construction and deconstruction of the form, hard not to escape his shadow when abstracting the figure. Van Gogh became an influence especially in terms of how mark making can enliven the subject creating a harmonious rhythm flowing throughout the composition. Then there’s Guston with his sophisticated line and the way he draws and paints with such emotion, bringing the raw and the sublime together. All of these artists and more can be present in the studio as I like to dialogue with them, but when it’s time to start drawing or painting they are set aside, and the work takes over.

ARTCOLLECTORNEWS: How do you select your themes/topics or subject matter?

I don’t have any grand plan; I just allow things to happen organically. The majority of the time I act on intuition and create work from my head. It really is a reflection of what’s happening in my life or in the world and that can and will subconsciously and consciously weave its way in. I draw, I write stuff down, and talk about it with my wife, she is a creative herself and a great asset when working out my ideas.

ARTCOLLECTORNEWS: What is your favorite medium to work with? Please tell us a bit about how the medium influences or supports the ideas behind your work.

Crayons. I love to push paint but there is something about beginning new work with crayons. There is a primal quality about them that I enjoy, the directness, the feeling of them and the wide selection of colors that are ready to go. Crayons have a wonderful wonky quality gliding across the paper that just feels good. They allow me to quickly put ideas together which can be easily fleshed out or kept really loose. I usually begin every project by sitting down with crayons.

ARTCOLLECTORNEWS: Can you tell us a bit about a few specific pieces you have created that you are particularly proud of?

That’s a hard question to answer, I don’t know about particularly proud of. There’s a gamut of emotions I go through when creating new work and I don’t think my paintings would be successful without it. The first thing that popped into my head when hearing your question was more sentimental. There are these three paintings I made for my show at Steve Turner gallery in 2023, I nicknamed them The Garden Party. They came to me when I thought I had finished painting for the show. They are portraits of my wife, myself and our beloved dog, Lily. Lily was nearing the end and I wanted to capture the moment in a larger-than-life scale depicting humor, joy and the love between us. Lily passed as I finished painting her, it was bittersweet, but she lived a long life and blessed us on a daily basis for over 18 years. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss my studio assistant.

ARTCOLLECTORNEWS: Do you have any upcoming exhibitions or projects that you are particularly excited about? Tell me about your latest body of work.

Yes, my next exhibit, Lost In A Dream is with Anna Zorina Gallery in New York opening this week Thursday October 10^th, 2024. These new paintings are inspired by the majestic beauty of the California Desert and escaping this busy over saturated, anxiety riddled world we live in. The language of abstraction, figuration and landscape are all at play within these new dreamlike paintings. The main feature though are these fleshy, sculptural, surreal characters who are traversing imaginary landscapes with a spiritual stoicism. I have been developing this work off and on since 2020 and it’s been interesting to re immerse myself, bring new insight to the process and seeing it come to fruition. These paintings have a meditative tone and emanate existential thoughts with joy, optimism, reflection and a sense of humor. There is a force in the desert that I wanted to convey, a spiritual, serene state where dualities meet, and introspection occurs.

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