Robert Hightower

'Omega II' - Contemporary Geometric Abstraction Pixelation - Skull - Bosch

2019

This painting features hues of green, yellow and white. Chattanooga-based artist Christina Renfer Vogel’s “Turning Towards the Sun” features pa...

'LOL' is an abstract pointillist painting featuring hues of yellow, orange, pink, and white. Robert Hightower is inspired by the work of Giotto, Hieronymus Bosch, Jean-François Millet, Roger Brown, Howard Arkley and Julian Opie. This piece is a part of a special immersive gallery installation, “The Apocalypse Simulacra,” which is a narrative presentation of the twilight of humanity, at the fulcrum of extinction by Atlanta-based artist Robert Hightower. Through stage-set constructions, readymade plastic models and paintings, Hightower investigates the duality of right/wrong, good/bad, eternal/ephemeral in light of the imminent end of the Human Epoch. It depicts the ideological origins of corporate greed and power, the reality of wealth distribution in the “American Dream,” and the socio-economic and environmental impacts of that collective greed. After receiving a BFA in sculpture from the University of Georgia, Hightower moved to New York City and participated in The Bronx Museum of the Art’s AIM Fellowship (Artist In the Marketplace). While in New York, his interests expanded to include art installation and the creation of spaces, and has since designed and built many unique homes, penthouses and restaurants throughout the United States. Hightower has returned home to Atlanta and will be presenting his most comprehensive body of work to date, “The Apocalypse Simulacra,” a unique universe of beauty, dichotomy and uncertainty. ARTIST STATEMENT The 'Apocalypse Simulacra' is a presentation of the twilight of humanity, at the fulcrum of extinction. The climate is the subject. The Simulacra is the Theme. First discussed by Plato, the Simulacra is the search for Truth in Duality. Developing into Post-Modernism with Nietzsche’s: truth=Truth. Now with Bauvillard, the Simulacra has evolved beyond Post-Modernism, into the wholesale confusion of the real/fake, the true/false… between reality and hyper-reality. This crumbling, confusing of the truth (not necessarily the Truth) is our Reality. For over two decades, I have created large format paintings of strip malls, suburban houses and toys. These paintings present singular images flattened-out (almost floating) on color-fields. They create a certain duality - a loving portrait of an inanimate object that would not normally be singled-out for affection. With my latest work, I have added a variety of iconic images: an airplane, a whisky bottle, a woman floating in a pool. The icons are presented in a pixelated or degenerated state. In addition to paintings, I have used adult-size building blocks to create sculptures or three-dimensional paintings. Using a child's toy at an adult-scale gives the building blocks an austere and powerful presence. The building blocks echo the blocks of the pixelated paintings...

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