Malik Robert Creates Deconstructed Artworks of Controversial Subjects to Challenge Reality.
Malik Roberts is a Brooklynite who is sweeping the modern art world. His work delves into ideas of culture, identity, politics, and media. Recognizable imagery is frequently framed in a fresh light by him!
Malik Roberts was born in 1990, in Brooklyn, NY. He is a painter and multimedia artist living in Brooklyn. Malik Roberts creates deconstructed portraits of various problematic contemporary issues. He seeks to explore the relationship between visual culture and the reality we have today in our society.
In the vein of artists such as Magritte and Richard Prince, Roberts frequently works with identifiable media imagery and conventions. He reframes his appropriated source material to highlight the absurdity of everyday life. He has a distinct way of portraying black skin and pop culture. While his visual language incorporates inspirations from both modern and pop art, the artist's complex compositions elicit involvement rather than awe. This allows the audience to contemplate the impact of visual media on the consumption of ideas in the Digital Age.
Malik Roberts once said in an interview that his reason for painting is because for years art had been a tool for political and cultural revolution. His words below:
“Art has forged political revolution and cultural evolution all over the world for hundreds, if not thousands of years. That’s inspiring to me. That’s the reason I paint.”
He makes use of Acrylic, oil, oil pastel, and charcoal for his paintings. He then in turn used prismatic fragmentations to tell various stories in one picture. Like sharing the various sides there is to a character. He manipulates the presentation of recognizable pictures and you with his audience's perception of what reality is and at the same time, he also addresses social issues in various ways with his art.
It can be seen that with his art Malik Roberts explored and will continue to explore the effects of police brutality and institutionalized racism on people in communities of color. One can see that his multimedia canvases are frequently dominated by vivid reds or melancholy blues. They're filled with people with shattered faces and bodies who look like they are experiencing physical and spiritual contradiction.
Malik Roberts met with Pope Francis in 2019. He was summoned to Vatican City for a private encounter with His Holiness after submitting artwork to the papal arts education initiative, "Scholas Ocurrentes." There, Malik Roberts presented Pope Francis with a painting of a Black Christ, which was warmly accepted. The piece is kept in the papal collection.
He has exhibited works in New York, Miami, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., and he has created public works and murals around New York, including the Kings County Hospital Center, First Street Green Art Park, and the Standard Hotel. Roberts has worked with companies like American Express, Nike, Adidas, and Bombay Sapphire.