Robert Roest’s “angel paintings” investigate the relationship between representation and deception by pushing the potential of artifice to its nth degree. Even the frames are an apt example of illusion: the weathered structures are meticulously rendered trompe l’oeil of actual window frames. They invoke time’s sunbleached snapshots of the sublime. The eroded, peeling lead paint of the frames work in sharp contrast with the traditional, pastoral landscapes below while a shining angel is crisply rendered above. Yet what is this angel but the most timeless, ineffable and complex system of all–weather, specifically crepuscular rays, an effect that occurs when the contrast between light and dark is most evident. Humans have not only read the stars, but noticed and interpreted spiritual images in the sky since the beginning of mankind, since the dawn of consciousness.
Menadel, 2023, Oil on canvas, 78x 55 inches
When images spark fear–why? And at what point might they spark faith? Staring into the angel in the clouds, how we might wish for our suspension of disbelief to kick in and startle us back into our bodies? On the other hand, Roest’s exhibition title might allude to another, slightly less comforting meaning. ‘Watching over us’ might not be construed in the religious sense, but rather in the constant presence–or absence–of a power that looms above. Barael, with its swirling bruise-colored clouds and wide-eyes, might lurch toward an omniscience observing our sins, our daily lives. And there’s an element of probability that can’t be ignored–if captured a moment later, depending on the course of the winds, these original images might have been very different. We might have missed them altogether. The dates of the cloud postings on the Internet span years yet each image is a stamp in time, just like the lands below are seamlessly stitched together from various historical paintings, dates and times unknown, places loosely referenced. Roest cites Northern Dutch landscape paintings as well as the work of Volodymyr Orlovsky and Isaac Levitan as key influences. Here, new forms and classical art tradition are reproduced and married in paint.
Memuneh, 2023, Oil on canvas, 78 x 98.5 inches
The eye immediately registers angelic shapes and forms. We see past fluffy clouds, blue sky, skinny strip of land. Our minds work with models of reality, not reality itself, Roest argues. One might even recognize some of the original source images considering the paintings are imitations, exaggerations and violations of photos that live on the internet. Lelahel seems to float on the azure blue and grassy hills of the infamous Microsoft desktop (which in itself is a reference to 19th century landscape painting) and Memuneh is not formed of clouds but by their angel-shaped absence, backlit by the streaming sun. Roest takes it to the next step by asking the viewer to join this next permutation: paintings that were memes that were photos that were angels that were clouds.Robert Roest’s Eight Paintings Proving Angels Are Really Watching Over Us is on view at New York’s Europa Gallery, curated by Alyssa Davis.
Eight Paintings Proving Angels Are Really Watching Over Us
Galgaliel, 2023, Oil on canvas, 78x 98.5 inches
Robert Roest’s “angel paintings” investigate the relationship between representation and deception by pushing the potential of artifice to its nth degree. Even the frames are an apt example of illusion: the weathered structures are meticulously rendered trompe l’oeil of actual window frames. They invoke time’s sunbleached snapshots of the sublime. The eroded, peeling lead paint of the frames work in sharp contrast with the traditional, pastoral landscapes below while a shining angel is crisply rendered above. Yet what is this angel but the most timeless, ineffable and complex system of all–weather, specifically crepuscular rays, an effect that occurs when the contrast between light and dark is most evident. Humans have not only read the stars, but noticed and interpreted spiritual images in the sky since the beginning of mankind, since the dawn of consciousness.
Menadel, 2023, Oil on canvas, 78x 55 inches
When images spark fear–why? And at what point might they spark faith? Staring into the angel in the clouds, how we might wish for our suspension of disbelief to kick in and startle us back into our bodies? On the other hand, Roest’s exhibition title might allude to another, slightly less comforting meaning. ‘Watching over us’ might not be construed in the religious sense, but rather in the constant presence–or absence–of a power that looms above. Barael, with its swirling bruise-colored clouds and wide-eyes, might lurch toward an omniscience observing our sins, our daily lives. And there’s an element of probability that can’t be ignored–if captured a moment later, depending on the course of the winds, these original images might have been very different. We might have missed them altogether. The dates of the cloud postings on the Internet span years yet each image is a stamp in time, just like the lands below are seamlessly stitched together from various historical paintings, dates and times unknown, places loosely referenced. Roest cites Northern Dutch landscape paintings as well as the work of Volodymyr Orlovsky and Isaac Levitan as key influences. Here, new forms and classical art tradition are reproduced and married in paint.
Memuneh, 2023, Oil on canvas, 78 x 98.5 inches
The eye immediately registers angelic shapes and forms. We see past fluffy clouds, blue sky, skinny strip of land. Our minds work with models of reality, not reality itself, Roest argues. One might even recognize some of the original source images considering the paintings are imitations, exaggerations and violations of photos that live on the internet. Lelahel seems to float on the azure blue and grassy hills of the infamous Microsoft desktop (which in itself is a reference to 19th century landscape painting) and Memuneh is not formed of clouds but by their angel-shaped absence, backlit by the streaming sun. Roest takes it to the next step by asking the viewer to join this next permutation: paintings that were memes that were photos that were angels that were clouds. Robert Roest’s Eight Paintings Proving Angels Are Really Watching Over Us is on view at New York’s Europa Gallery, curated by Alyssa Davis.
Noriel, 2023, Oil on canvas, 78x 55 inches
Yushanim, 2023, Oil on canvas, 78 x98.5 inches
Mimiah, 2023, Oil on canvas, 78x 55 inches