Holly Roberts
Holly Roberts paints on photographs to create images that force us to examine ourselves and our humanity. In 1980, while living on a Zuni reservation in New Mexico, Roberts began painting on photographs she had taken of her husband, children, animals and friends, creating psychological dramas which confront the anguish, joy, challenges, and complexities involved in daily life. Roberts uses paint to define the photographic image, allowing the brush to guide her through a piece–to move forward while still being led. A portrait of a mother and child can become a piece about ambiguity of feeling–of being a mother, wife and artist and the responsibilities that define these roles. This sense of conflict can be seen in Small Child With Wolf, in which her daughter’s face appears within the body of a salivating wolf. Questions abound. Has the wolf swallowed her, is he protecting her or does she have the fierce temper of a wolf within her? Questions are at the core of Roberts work, allowing the viewer to exchange the personal identity of the subject for an archetype, wherein we all can reside. Through her steady and unflinching gaze, brutal honesty and tempered toughness, Holly Roberts invites us …
Holly Roberts paints on photographs to create images that force us to examine ourselves and our humanity. In 1980, while living on a Zuni reservation in New Mexico, Roberts began painting on photographs she had taken of her husband, children, animals and friends, creating psychological dramas which confront the anguish, joy, challenges, and complexities involved in daily life. Roberts uses paint to define the photographic image, allowing the brush to guide her through a piece–to move forward while still being led. A portrait of a mother and child can become a piece about ambiguity of feeling–of being a mother, wife and artist and the responsibilities that define these roles. This sense of conflict can be seen in Small Child With Wolf, in which her daughter’s face appears within the body of a salivating wolf. Questions abound. Has the wolf swallowed her, is he protecting her or does she have the fierce temper of a wolf within her? Questions are at the core of Roberts work, allowing the viewer to exchange the personal identity of the subject for an archetype, wherein we all can reside. Through her steady and unflinching gaze, brutal honesty and tempered toughness, Holly Roberts invites us to look inside ourselves to discover our own fears and truths.
Solo exhibitions of Roberts’ work have been held at Museo de Arte Contemparaneo de Oaxaca, Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, Eleanor D. Wilson Museum of Art at Hollins University in Roanoke, and Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as Center Georges Pompidou in Paris, Art Institute of Chicago, Artspace in New Haven, Los Angeles Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Courtesy of Catherine Edelman Gallery
Albuquerque Museum of Art, Albuquerque, NM
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Bayly Museum of Art, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
California Museum of Photography, University of California, Riverside, CA
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, Monterey, CA
Museum of Art, University of Iowa, IA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of Photographic Art, San Diego, CA
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Phoenix Museum of Art, Phoenix, AZ
Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM