Robilant+Voena is delighted to announce an exhibition of new work by Robert Zeller, entitled The Fragment is the Whole. The selection of works in the exhibition reflect the artist’s extensive research and knowledge of art historical periods, combining elements that reflect the legacy of twentieth-century movements including Surrealism and Dadaism, interspersed with more classical tropes. A writer and curator as well as visual artist, Zeller journeys through realms of meaning to explore the construction of non-linear narratives using layers of painting, drawing and collage, opening space for the viewer to engage with profoundly personal themes, such as memory, love and loss.
In The Fragment is the Whole, Zeller explores the figurative use of pictorial space through overlapping imagery and abstract compositional elements to convey unconscious, non-linear narratives that reference both art history and contemporary culture. The compositions draw upon varied influences: partly inspired by Surrealist, Dada and Cubist collage, as well as the landscapes and interiors of the Flemish Primitives, the works also take direction from the imagery of Rococo and Barbizon artists. The narratives involve the underworld (death) and memory, love, loss and spiritual awakenings. Sensual and alluring, the locales of these scenes are landscapes of the mind, the psyche, involving forms of Nature – trees, branches, roots – mixed with classical drawn or painted forms, namely portraits and nudes. In the smaller works, Zeller also includes collaged elements such as sheet music, gold leaf, stock reports, and poetry. In the larger pieces, he employs linear perspective to create a sense of the passage of time and infinity.
Contact us for available works.
About the artist
Robert Zeller is a visual artist, writer and curator who received a BFA from a joint program of the Boston Museum School and Tufts University, and an MFA from the New York Academy of Art. He maintains studio practices in both Brooklyn and Long Island, where he creates Surrealist-inspired work. His writing and curatorial projects are enriched by his creative studio practice, and vice versa. Zeller’s art has been exhibited in New York City at 511, Booth, Forbes and Palo Galleries. His works feature in private and corporate collections in the US, Europe and Mexico. In addition, the artist is the recipient of two Posey Fellowships and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant.
Zeller has written for the Brooklyn Rail, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, and many other publications. He is the author of two books for the Monacelli Press, an imprint of Phaidon, The Figurative Artist's Handbook (2017), and New Surrealism: The Uncanny in Contemporary Painting (2023). He has given interviews for The New York Times, CNN and Whitehot magazine, and his books have been reviewed by MutualArt, Hyperallergic, and Juxtapoz among others. Zeller has given lectures and moderated talks at Rizzoli Books (NYC), Lyles & King (NYC) and Gagosian Beverly Hills.
