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I have always been fascinated by what makes things happen, and use painting to investigate events that combine to make life’s parade. I am building a portfolio of images exploring who we as “Americans” are by painting what we do, where we do it, and by giving our everyday world a second look.
I really enjoy working under the difficult and distracting circumstances that come with being in the middle of a crowded event, faced with the multiple challenges of motion, unusual lighting, limited time and interaction with the public. Painting from life adds substance a camera can’t record. Your wet feet make you consider the puddles, and the wind on your face draws attention to the swirl of the leaves and sway of the branches. The experience is included in the artwork and felt by the viewer. I spend hours in one spot taking a good look and, in a form, creating an iconic image of what I see. Over time I observe rhythms that add to the identity of the scene, absorbing a great deal of sensory information.
The result is a painting infused with the energy of the moment, be it the immediacy found on the set of Good Morning America or the cultural signature of a Hot Dog truck. By working amidst the events of everyday life, I’m assembling a parade of images that reveal the foundation and fabric of contemporary culture at the turn of our century. It’s my way of saying, “Hey, look at us!”
Regardless of genre, I want my paintings to strike a chord in the viewer that gives association to something in memory. I don’t want to tell you it is a lunch counter; I want you to feel what you felt when you ate at one. I want you to hear the plates.
-Robert Beck
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