Narrative Paintings

Robert Waldeck’s Incognito deals with transformation- not of an object or person but rather a transformation of perception or understanding. Using masks as his primary metaphor, Incognito combines elements of surrealist portraiture, fantasy and imagined scenarios and situations. Drawing on sources as diverse as Francis Bacon, Star Wars movies, poetry and fashion advertisements, Incognito provokes the viewer into liberating themselves from the traditional realms of reason and narrative, and instead, allow the unconscious to lead the way.

The constructed space paintings depict scenarios which could only happen in the realm of imagination or psychosis… these paintings are subversively dark and edgy. They seem to reflect dark, psychological desires- ones that perhaps we are not comfortable in admitting to ourselves and which we (un)consciously edit out- essentially masking over what we truly want. There is something undeniably powerful about these works partly due to the artist’s considerable technical skill- these are masterfully painted canvases- but also because the artist is cheeky enough to include some sly asides which relieve them from being overly didactic or heavy-handed.

-Virginia Eichhorn