Spotlight Artist

Dave Shrobe

Northeast
Artist profile photo

At a Crossroads

Abstract collage of two figures holding a child, composed of varied textures and colors.

oil, acrylic, and graphite on paper and canvas, steel, wood, flocking, fabric, and vinyl mounted on carved wood panel

In Devil’s Claw

Person in a gray suit holding a bird, surrounded by lush plants and flowers, in an oval frame.

oil, acrylic, charcoal, painted paper, fabric, and flocking on joined carved wood panel

Riding the Wind’s Back

Abstract collage of a seated figure with mixed textures, bold colors, and ornate arch background.

oil, acrylic, charcoal, colored pencil, fabric, wood, and floorboard mounted on joined carved wood panels

Featured in New American Paintings1 / 3

Artist Statement

 David Shrobe creates multilayered portraits and assemblage paintings made in part from everyday materials that he finds in multiple geographies. He disassembles pieces of furniture, especially from around his familial home in Harlem, separating wood from fabric, and recombines them as supports for collage, painting, and drawing. What manifests are figures assembled by signaled body parts. Fragments depict each figure to offer an uncanny outline that exerts a presence of being. Traversing different approaches, his work brings notions of identity, history, and memory into question while challenging conventions of classical portraiture. Shrobe produces new narratives, fragmented and nonlinear, that feel intimate and personal without being anchored to a specific time or place.

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