Prophet Royal Robertson: NO PROUD BASTARDS – curated by Erik Parker and Scott Ogden
October 21–November 19, 2011
Prophet Royal Robertson, He Who Hold the Stars in His Hand, N.D. Mixed media on poster-board, double-sided, 28 × 22 in.
Prophet Royal Robertson, Hiddened Heaven. Mixed media on poster-board, double-sided 22 × 28 in.
Prophet Royal Robertson, Untitled (God in Space), N.D. Mixed media on poster-board, double-sided 28 × 22 in.
Installation view of “Prophet Royal Robertson: NO PROUD BASTARDS”
Prophet Royal Robertson, On the Day Earth Stood Still, N.D. Mixed media on poster-board, double-sided 28 × 22 in.
Prophet Royal Robertson, No Divorce Whore’s Allowed, N.D Enamel on wood, 47 ½ × 48 in.
Installation view of “Prophet Royal Robertson: NO PROUD BASTARDS”
Installation view of “Prophet Royal Robertson: NO PROUD BASTARDS”
Prophet Royal Robertson in his yard at home, Baldwin, LA Photograph by Frédéric Allamel
Press Release
Prophet Royal Robertson (1931-1997), originally a sign painter by trade, covered every inch of his Baldwin, Louisiana home and yard with apocalyptic hand-made signs and paintings. Visitors and passersby alike were greeted with large, weather-beaten signs warning, “All Crazy Persons Keep Off Lot” and “No Divorced Whores Allowed”. However once you got past these foreboding walls of language, an entirely different world opened up inside his small home. Shrines dedicated to his both beloved and despised ex-wife, Adell, were pushed up against walls that were lined floor to ceiling with poster board renderings of future cities, space autos, couples engaged in sex, weaponry, and calendars chronicling his daily woes and visions. Referencing sources as disparate as the Bible, science fiction magazines, pornography, and cheap tabloid newspapers, his work managed to graphically illustrate the daily concerns that occupied his mind, both real and imagined. More than a reclusive, self-proclaimed prophet, Royal believed himself to be a “Libra Artist, Mystic, Psychic, Lord, and Saint.” He lived in a world where daily visions blended seamlessly into a waking life spent obsessively documenting his otherworldly adventures. The resulting drawings and writings provide direct access into the mind of an evidently troubled, yet visionary individual who perhaps unintentionally created some of the most extraordinary ‘Pop’ art of the 20th Century.
– Scott Ogden and Erik Parker
Prophet Royal Robertson NO PROUD BASTARDS is curated by NY-based artists Scott Ogden and Erik Parker. In 1996 Odgen and Parker visited Royal Robertson in his Baldwin home whilst they were studying art at The University of Texas at Austin. This exhibition will be the first in-depth consideration of Royal Robertson’s work to be held in New York City.
For White Columns, Parker and Ogden have produced ‘Selected Writings / Drawings / Rants by Prophet Royal Robertson’ the 38th edition of White Columns occasional ‘zine ‘The W.C.’ – which is available to purchase from the gallery.
View a video composed of documentary footage of Robertson at his home, which is included in the exhibition: http://royalrobertson.tumblr.com
For more information please contact the gallery at info@whitecolumns.org
Prophet Royal Robertson, He Who Hold the Stars in His Hand, N.D. Mixed media on poster-board, double-sided, 28 × 22 in. (A framed drawing of a bearded man’s head looking straight at the viewer, crowned with headwear and a collar. There is a glitter black background with text written on the top and right side. Surrounding the image is a black, red, and yellow frame.)
Prophet Royal Robertson, Hiddened Heaven. Mixed media on poster-board, double-sided 22 × 28 in. (A framed drawing of a celestial civilization landscape filled with tall twisted spires, pyramids, and a sky filled with distant planets and a double rainbow, there is faded writing at the bottom. Surrounding the drawing is a black glitter border.)
Prophet Royal Robertson, Untitled (God in Space), N.D. Mixed media on posterboard, double-sided 28 × 22 in. (A framed drawing of a bearded man with white hair, drawn in a side profile with an angry expression. He is wearing a winged pointed hat and red clothes. The background is glittery black and filled with many planets, stars, and meteors. Surrounding the drawing is a geometrical border.)
Installation view of “Prophet Royal Robertson: NO PROUD BASTARDS” (A gallery view of two adjacent walls meeting at a corner, displaying 16 pieces. Nearest to the viewer on the protruding wall is a long, full-body image of a woman wearing a red bodysuit and boots. Along the same wall are 10 framed drawings spaced evenly in two rows. On the opposite wall hangs 5 more framed drawings.)
Prophet Royal Robertson, On the Day Earth Stood Still, N.D. Mixed media on poster-board, double-sided 28 × 22 in. (A framed portrait of a glittering, faceless black figure, crowned with different accessories and a red circle in the center of its chest. Behind the figure is a beige background with a writing surrounding it.)
Prophet Royal Robertson, No Divorce Whore’s Allowed, N.D Enamel on wood, 47 ½ × 48 in. (A worn, white wooden sign with text. Bold blue letters read “PROPHET MOSES/ NO/ DIVORCE/ WHORE’S ALLOWED” Red, hand painted texts cites Bible verses: DEUTERONOMY, Ch:32.vs.5.vs.8, LEVITICUS-ch:18-tex-20.)
Installation view of “Prophet Royal Robertson: NO PROUD BASTARDS” (An angled gallery view. Nearest to the viewer is a sculpture of a ship pointed toward a helmet sitting on a plinth. On the wall to the left are 9 colorful, identically sized framed drawings. Standing in the corner is a sculpture on a plinth. On the wall to the right are 3 more framed pieces with varying content.)
Installation view of “Prophet Royal Robertson: NO PROUD BASTARDS” (A forward facing view of a freestanding wall. Hanging on the wall are a variety of signs, objects and framed drawings, featuring various religious and cosmic imagery, as well as text.)
Prophet Royal Robertson in his yard at home, Baldwin, LA Photograph by Frédéric Allamel (Against a backdrop of his artwork, Prophet Royal Robertson stands at a slight angle, he smiles slightly and his eyes do not meet the camera.)
