Mario Andres Robinson (born 1970) is an American

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

list, and draftsman. Robinson was born in

Altus, Oklahoma Altus () is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census, a loss of 7.7 percent compared to 21,454 in 2000. Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air F ...

. At the age of 12 he moved with family to New Jersey. He was encouraged to develop his innate talent for the expression of visual art by a fifth grade teacher, and so began building what would soon become a prodigious body of work. Robinson studied at the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

in New York City.From the beginning of his career, Robinson was influenced by the work of Degas,

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

, Vermeer among others. He studied their techniques and elementally broke down their works. He later deconstructed the work of various contemporary American artists. Robinson's art was described on the

Art Renewal Center The Art Renewal Center (ARC) is a non-profit, educational organization, which hosts an online museum dedicated to realist art. The ARC was founded by New Jersey businessman, author, and art collector Fred Ross. Particular emphasis is given to ...

's website as:

The work of Mario Andres Robinson fits squarely within the tradition of American painting. Robinson's finished works bear a close affinity to the masters of the realist tradition, Andrew Wyeth and Thomas Eakins. Containing few references to modern life, Robinson's work has a timeless and universal quality, and exhibits a distinct turn-of-the-century stylistic aesthetic. The images he chooses, which refer to a bygone era where solitude and reflection were abundant, also provoke frequent allusions to the paintings of Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper. Beginning in 1994, Robinson's work began to extensively incorporate rural subjects primarily located in the state of Alabama. Each subject is very personal for Robinson in both selection and execution. As the work progresses, the artist's relationship with the sitter develops and a uniquely personal story begins to evolve. Robinson frequently depicts his subjects framed within the context of their daily lives. The underlying narrative counters sentimentality and serves as the underpinning for his figurative images. While a confluence of styles has exerted varying degrees of influence over Robinson, the artist's individuality continually asserts itself. He is capable of exceptional technical proficiency, which he uses to convey his vision of people and places in his immediate world, and the rural venues he chooses to depict.

In 2016, Robinson was one of the nine artists, including, Stephanie Deshpande, Judy Takács, Laur Tilden and Terry Strickland, who participated in the Emanuel Nine Portrait Project at Principle Gallery, honoring the victims of the

Charleston Church shooting On June 17, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those people who were killed was the senior past ...

. He painted the portrait of Cynthia Hurd, one of the nine victims.

References

1970 births Living people People from Altus, Oklahoma 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Artists from New Jersey {{US-painter-stub