Robert Sean Coons
Robert Sean Coons, Very Coy, 2008. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist. [/caption]Robert Sean Coons’ oil paintings comment on the paradoxes that lie in the subliminal areas of the human mind: love and war or beauty and obscenity. When approached head-on, the canvases appear to be simply paintings of World War II planes, koi fish, or butterflies in a repeated motif. When you move to one side, however, you see that erotic images actually lie underneath the seemingly straightforward frontal images: a woman performing fellatio, two women kissing, and so on. “The tough thing is, if the work is successful; no one knows it is,” Coons says with a laugh.
Born and raised in Northern California, Coons received his B.F.A. at The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California and has had four one-man shows with Robert Berman Gallery. Among Berman’s prominent patrons is the legendary pop artist Ed Ruscha, who owns several Coons originals.
So why paint in such a fashion? “I paint what turns me on,” he confesses. “I love getting people’s reactions when they realize that there are nude women ‘hiding’ in the background; the emotional reaction is what I want.”
www.robertseancoons.com