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Artists: Robert Roberg

Robert Roberg
Note to the below: Robert unfortunately informed us that he had an epiphany and burned all the paintings in his possession. While we have at least one or two in our own inventory which remain available, it will take us some time to sort these out. Please contact us to confirm availability of any particular piece.

Dedicated pacifist and Street Minister Robert Roberg started painting as a means of witnessing to bystanders. Untrained and self taught, Roberg's work has been featured in Chuck Rosenak's Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists, and in Folk Art Messenger magazine.

Roberg was born in Spokane Washington in 1943. He has been a world traveler and came to the attention of the art world in his late 40s. He describes his art as "Apocalyptic" for he feels the judgment Day is near. Many of his themes cry out for a return to God. He is strongly against all uses of alcohol and describes himself as a non-violent peacemaker.

Roberg's paintings are often on found materials, and found objects are often applied to the work to help the viewer focus on the message which is printed in bold letters on the surface. "My greatest fear is that I will start believing I'm an artist," he has often said.

Roberg's work was chosen for the "Treasures to Go" exhibition of Contemporary Folk Art: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which showcases self-taught artists of the past 40 years. "Treasures to Go" features eight thematic exhibitions of paintings and sculptures that presents over 500 of the Smithsonian's finest works at more than 70 American Museums.

One of Robert's paintings appeared on the front page of the New York Times on May 13th. 2005. His work is listed in:
Just Above the Water: Florida Folk Art, Kristin G. Congdon and Tina Bucuvalas University Press of Mississippi, Jackson MS, 2006
Coming Home; Self-taught Artists , The Bible The American South, Carol Crown, University Press of Mississippi , Jackson MS, 2004
Extraordinary Interpretations Gary Monroe, University of Florida Press,, Gainesville FL, 2003
Apocalypse Prophecies and Visions , Amy Namowitz Worthen, Des Moines Art Museum, Des Moines Iowa, 2001
Revelations: Art of the Apocalyspe, Nancy Grubb, Abbeville Press, NY , 1997, five paintings
Contemporary American Folk Art: A Collector's Guide, Chuck Rosenak, Abbeville Press, NY 1995
Twentieth Century American Folk, Self-Taught, and Outsider Art, Sellen & Johanson, Neal Schuman Pub. NY 1993

Recent Exhibits:
Just Above the Water: Florida Folk Art A new exhibition is on view at the Heritage Gallery Tallahassee. September 29 - January 8, 2006
Coming Home; Self-taught Artists , The Bible The American South. The Art Museum of the University of Memphis June 18 to November 13, 2004.
The exhibition traveled to the Florida State University in Tallahassee in February of 2005 and was in the grand opening of the Museum for Biblical Art Gallery of the American Bible Society NY May 13 - July 23, 2005.
Smithsonian Treasures to Go Contemporary American Folk Art, Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center Pittsburgh, PA, January 2003
Smithsonian Treasures to Go Contemporary American Folk Art, Fort Wayne Museum of Art Fort Wayne, IN, September 2002
Folk Art From the City of Orlando curated by Frank Holt, Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo Florida, May 2002
Point of View: American Folk Art from the William and Ann Oppenheimer Collection,Terrace Gallery, Orlando City Hall, Orlando, FL, April-May , 2002
Smithsonian Treasures to Go Contemporary American Folk Art, High Museum of Art Atlanta, GA, February 2002
Apocalypse Prophecies and Visions, curated by Amy Werthen, Des Moines Art Museum, Des Moines Iowa, November 2001 Exhibits Smithsonian Treasures to Go Contemporary American Folk Art, The Art Museum at Florida International University, Miami FL, January 2001
Smithsonian Treasures to Go Contemporary American Folk Art, Tacoma Art Museum Tacoma, WA, April 2001
Smithsonian Treasures to Go Contemporary American Folk Art, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens Jacksonville, FL, October 2001
Point of View: American Folk Art from the William and Ann Oppenhimer Collection, Marsh Art Gallery, George M. Modlin Center for the Arts, University of Richmond, Richmond VA, October , 2001
Saving Grace curated by Gary Monroe, Thomas Center Gainesville FL, December 2001
Smithsonian Treasures to Go Contemporary American Folk Art, Tampa Museum of Art Tampa, FL 2000
Vision and Community: Three Grassroots Artists curated by Rima Jabbour Crealde School of Art Orlando FL 2000
Contemporary Folk Art a View from the Outside curated by Suzanne Shawe, Boca Raton FL 1995
The Passionate Eye curated by Claudia Sabin, Orlando FL 1994

Publications:
Revelations: Art of the Apocalyspe, Nancy Grubb, Abbeville Press, NY , 1997, five paintings
Unlocking the Mysteries, Samuel Parvin, Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN 1999, two paintings
How Bad was Jezebel? Janet Howe Gaines, Bible Review, Washington D.C. 2000, one painting
The Littlest Star co-written with Chuck Whiting Shine Time Books and Records, Nashville, TN

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