Robert Yarber
Encyclopedia
Robert Yarber is an American
painter and Distinguished Professor of Art at Pennsylvania State University
. He received a BFA from Cooper Union
in 1971, and an MFA from Louisiana State University
in 1973.
Yarber gained international attention when his work was included in "Paradise Lost/Paradise Regained: American Visions of the New Decade", an exhibit organized by the New Museum for display in the American Pavilion at the 41st Venice Biennale
in 1984. At the Venice Biennale, he was one of twenty-four artists (including Roger Brown
, Rev. Howard Finster
, Cheryl Laemmle, Jedd Garet
, April Gornik
, and Eric Fischl
) represented in the United States pavilion. Yarber gained further prominence with his inclusion in the Whitney Biennial
in 1985. In 1990, Yarber, along with artists Janet Woolley, Jenny Holzer
and the illustrators Lou Brooks and Marvin Mattelson, participated in a MTV
advertising campaign in Rolling Stone magazine that allowed them the freedom to create an illustration without specific requirements.
Yarber has been credited with influencing the Terry Gilliam
film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)
, (1998). According to cinematographer Nicola Pecorini
, the look of the film was influenced by Yarber's paintings that are "Very hallucinatory: the paintings use all kinds of neon colors, and the light sources don't necessarily make sense." According to Gilliam, they used him as a guide "While mixing our palette of deeply disturbing fluorescent colors."
He has been represented by the Sonnabend Gallery in New York, Marella Arte Contemporanea in Milan
, Modernism Inc. in San Francisco and other galleries in the United States and Europe.
Yarber is best known for a series of paintings of flying and falling figures seen above cityscapes viewed at night. The main ideas of Yarber's work revolve around "combining antiquity with modernism." Two recent shows at Sonnabend Gallery in New York have highlighted Yarber's integration of non dual Vedanta
and Upper Amazonian Shamanism
into his drawings and paintings. A graphic fiction is in the works based on the most recent show, "Irrational Exuberance."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
painter and Distinguished Professor of Art at Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
. He received a BFA from Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
in 1971, and an MFA from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in 1973.
Yarber gained international attention when his work was included in "Paradise Lost/Paradise Regained: American Visions of the New Decade", an exhibit organized by the New Museum for display in the American Pavilion at the 41st Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
in 1984. At the Venice Biennale, he was one of twenty-four artists (including Roger Brown
Roger Brown (artist)
Roger Brown was an American artist who was a member of the Chicago Imagists, a group in the 1960s and 1970s who turned to representational art. His paintings are owned by many of the most important art museums in the US.He was born in Hamilton, Alabama and raised in Opelika...
, Rev. Howard Finster
Howard Finster
Howard Finster was an American artist and Baptist reverend from Georgia. He claimed to be inspired by God to spread the gospel through the environment of Paradise Garden and over 46,000 pieces of art. His creations overlap folk art, outsider art, naïve art, and visionary art...
, Cheryl Laemmle, Jedd Garet
Jedd Garet
Jedd Garet is an American sculptor, painter, and printmaker who was born in 1955.Influenced by surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico, Garet uses garish colors in jarring contrasts to explore relationships between nature, man, and art. He combines human figures, classical architectural fragments...
, April Gornik
April Gornik
April Gornik is an American artist, known for her American landscape paintings.Her work Storm and Fires is included into the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, as well as in many other national museums and private collections.In 2007, The Smithsonian Art Collectors Program...
, and Eric Fischl
Eric Fischl
Eric Fischl is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker.-Early life:Fischl was born in New York City and grew up on suburban Long Island; his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1967...
) represented in the United States pavilion. Yarber gained further prominence with his inclusion in the Whitney Biennial
Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennale exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932, the first biennial was in 1973...
in 1985. In 1990, Yarber, along with artists Janet Woolley, Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer is an American conceptual artist. Holzer lives and works in Hoosick Falls, New York.-Education:...
and the illustrators Lou Brooks and Marvin Mattelson, participated in a MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
advertising campaign in Rolling Stone magazine that allowed them the freedom to create an illustration without specific requirements.
Yarber has been credited with influencing the Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a 1998 American drama film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke and Benicio del Toro as Dr. Gonzo. It was adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel of the same name....
, (1998). According to cinematographer Nicola Pecorini
Nicola Pecorini
Nicola Pecorini is an Italian-born cinematographer.Pecorini was born in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He founded, with Garrett Brown, inventor of the steadicam, the Steadicam Operators Association, Inc. , in 1988. Pecorini moved to the States in 1993...
, the look of the film was influenced by Yarber's paintings that are "Very hallucinatory: the paintings use all kinds of neon colors, and the light sources don't necessarily make sense." According to Gilliam, they used him as a guide "While mixing our palette of deeply disturbing fluorescent colors."
He has been represented by the Sonnabend Gallery in New York, Marella Arte Contemporanea in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Modernism Inc. in San Francisco and other galleries in the United States and Europe.
Yarber is best known for a series of paintings of flying and falling figures seen above cityscapes viewed at night. The main ideas of Yarber's work revolve around "combining antiquity with modernism." Two recent shows at Sonnabend Gallery in New York have highlighted Yarber's integration of non dual Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
and Upper Amazonian Shamanism
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
into his drawings and paintings. A graphic fiction is in the works based on the most recent show, "Irrational Exuberance."