Robert Nava
Revisiting the philosophies and strategies of the CoBrA movement (1948-1951), the works by Robert Nava reflect intuition, spontaneity, experimentation and the freedom of children's un-schooled drawings. Easily-recognizable for his genuine fascination for the mythical and folkloric, Nava channels an ancient pictorial language - gazing both backwards through the history of the first cave paintings and into the present. In the interplay between the conscious and unconscious, we sense the symbiotic struggle between man and monster embodied as the ongoing struggle between artist and canvas. In this sense, the mythology and duality of Janus is present in each of the works. The paintings are passages - or transformative tableaux - each depicting and embodying both the beginning and the end of conflict.
Born 1985 in East Chicago, IN
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
EDUCATION
2011
M.F.A. in Painting, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT 2008 B.A. in Fine Art, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, IN
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
Mirror Quest, Kunstmuseum Schloss Derneburg – Hall Art Foundation, Derneburg, Germany
2022
Thunderbolt Disco, Pace Gallery, London, UK
STAND, The Watermill Center, Watermill, New York, NY
Bloodsport, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021
Robert Nava, Pace Gallery, East Hampton, NY
Angels, Vito Schnabel Gallery, New York, NY
Robert Nava, Pace Gallery, Palm Beach, CA
2020
Robert Nava, Sorry We’re Closed Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2019
Mythologies, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Vs, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2018
Robert Nava, Sorry We’re Closed Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2015
I’m Rubber, You’re Glue, ThreeFourThreeFour Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
PRESENT '23: Building the Scantland Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
2022
V1 XX - Twenty Years of V1 Gallery, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Boil, Toil + Trouble, organized by Art in Common, 50 NE 40th Street, Miami, FL
Multiple Sights: The Tenth Anniversary of the Long Museum, Long Museum (West Bund), Shanghai, China
Come As You Are, Stony Island Arts Bank, Chicago, IL
2021
Sunburst, Various Small Fires x Night Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2020
Nine to Know, Ruttkowski 68, Paris, France
Art Herning, Group Presentation with V1 Gallery, Herning, Denmark
2019
The Birds, CHART Art Fair with V1 Gallery, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
2018
NADA Miami, Night Gallery Booth, Miami, FL
NADA Miami, Sorry We’re Closed Booth, Miami, FL
MINE II, V 1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Art Düsseldorf, Sorry We’re Closed Booth, Düsseldorf, Germany
Person, Place, or Thing, Safe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
NY Now, Allouche Benias Gallery, Athens, Greece
Paper Trails, Allouche Gallery, New York, NY
Paradise, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Like No Other, Annarumma Gallery, Naples, Italy
Age Less World, Deli Grocery Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Mutants, 132 Perry St. New York, NY
Guardians of the Secret, Ober Gallery, Kent, CT
2017
NADA, Canada Gallery Booth, Miami, FL
EXPO Chicago, Roberto Paradise Gallery Booth, Chicago, IL
2017 We Are the Ones, CGK Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Shindig, YUI Gallery, New York, NY
Say Yes, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Forces of Nature, Ober Gallery, Kent, CT
2016
The Aging Coconut, Roberto Paradise Gallery, San Juan, PR 2016 Plus One, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2015
Instant Vacation, Trestle Projects, Brooklyn, NY
Mixtape 2, M. David Studio, 56 Bogart St. Brooklyn, NY 2015 Art Shop 2, 99 Cent Plus Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2014
Dead Ends, Heliopolis, Brooklyn, NY
Broke Baroque, Sanctuary Projects, Pittsburgh, PA
2013
Transitions Vol. 1 (Like an Indefinite State), Associated Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2013 Ex-ile, El Rincon Social, Houston, TX
2012
Pushing Painting Paradigms, Mason Gross Galleries, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
PDF Release & Party, CAGE, curated by AGWF, New York, NY
12 X 12 Alumni Exhibition, IU Northwest Gallery for Contemporary Art, Gary, IN
2012 Harderer. Betterer. Fasterer. Strongerer., Brucennial 2, N ew York, NY
2011
M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2010
Art for Haiti Benefit Auction, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2009
A Proposito: Pan Latino Dialogues, John Slade Ely House, New Haven, CT
2008
Senior Thesis Exhibition, IU Northwest Gallery for Contemporary Art, Gary, IN
RESIDENCIES
2018
SoHo Beach House Miami
The Macedonia Institute Residency
