Interview by Jimon

1- How would you describe Robert Szot? Although I am generally what you would consider to be a ‘happy’ person I think there is a deep dissatisfaction in me that I can’t seem to satiate. I imagine this is the case for most people, but I feel like this dissatisfaction drives a lot of what I do even though I can’t fully express what is lacking in my life. Creating things that are important to me is the only way to stave off this emptiness and even then it is only quieted for a short time. So is ‘happily unsatisfied’ a thing?

2- Where do you currently live and create? I live and work in both New York City and Los Angeles depending on what projects I am working on.

3- How long have you been making art and how did it all start? I started painting when I was 23 years old and have been a professional artist for the past 15 years. Painting took me by surprise as I had never really been interested in art growing up – at least not interested enough to consider dedicating my life to it. I think it all changed for me when I saw the work of Egon Schiele for the first time. I felt confronted by his ability to express himself so deeply with what I perceived to be such a limited vocabulary of color and line. Of course I had no idea what I was stepping into even though I had convinced myself that there wasn’t THAT much to know. So I decided to dismantle my life, my job, my relationships, and I moved to New York City at the age of 25 to become an artist. It is still very much a work in progress.

4- Did you study art or is it inherent? I am entirely self-taught. I didn’t have any fundamental problem with art school but I didn’t feel comfortable with the notion of being told I was doing something ‘wrong’ – so I skipped it entirely. I wouldn’t say I have any ‘inherent’ ability to create art either – everything I have learned has only been through a series of trials and some of those lessons were hard-learned and did not come naturally to me at all.

5- What is the inspiration behind your paintings? I am not a believer in the concept of ‘inspiration’. My work is born from the work that came before it. What I mean is that I am a reactionary, I respond to moments in the immediate. I lay one thing onto a canvas and it gives way to 10 other things I see in response to it. My work is kaleidoscopic in nature where one move opens up other moves and on and on. Inspiration, and waiting for inspiration, means you are relying on ideas to progress your work and I distain ‘ideas’. I need a much looser framework to create something and ‘ideas’ and ‘inspiration’ feel like the walls are closing in on me.

6- Do you believe a person’s life story affects the way they see art? The only way to create meaningful work is to have that work tied directly to your life, so yes your ‘story’ is going to affect your work if you are doing it correctly. Your work should change as your life changes.

As far as the way people ‘see’ art? I think too many people are unwilling, for whatever reason, to allow themselves to let something like an abstract painting dialogue with their emotions. People always seem to be looking for answers like a painting is some sort of equation that they have to solve to really be able to understand it. There is no real answer of course. Art, and abstract art in particular, is meant to access a more basic part of your humanity. Effective art communicates in a more basic language, a language that often can’t be expressed verbally but a language of humanity which we all have in common. Ideas and gimmicks kill this dialogue immediately. Perhaps that is just the time we live in now, a time where certainty is prized over mystery and the easy answer is the best answer. How boring.

7- How do you know when to stop work on a painting or is it constantly ongoing? Over the past few years I have been focusing on what I have termed the ‘Object’. The creation of the ‘Object’ is the creation of the ‘complete picture’. This completeness is undeniable in how tightly it is all tied together through color, composition, and the effective mitigation of chaos. Looking at a painting in this way allows me to better understand when that painting is ’finished’. More often than not it comes down to one small move, the introduction of a little line or a spot of color and boom the ‘Object’ makes its presence known and the painting is finished. Since I have tied my life directly to my work I see things that feel like my past when I see older works. These don’t feel ‘incomplete’ but I always feel an urge to go in and do a bit of updating. I think that is natural to feel like this.

8- You teach workshops, what was the inception of this idea and how would someone learn more about your workshops? Workshops and hosting groups of other artists is something that started this year. Over the years in New York City I had never been one to get involved with other artists, preferring to work alone in my studio without the distraction of other people. This has begun to change for me and I have really had a gratifying experience meeting and sharing ideas with other artists. My workshops are small, often limited to 10 or 12 people, and they are more a meeting of peers than anything else. I share philosophy and techniques that I have developed in my own work – not with the intention of teaching someone to paint like I do, but rather as an introduction to ideas that act as additives to their own solid artistic foundations. I am not one to assume a position of authority over someone else’s work because I bristle at the thought of someone doing it to me. I host workshops monthly in my new studio in Los Angeles and you can find that information on my website.

9-Is your identity as an artist separate from your identity as a person? No, I wouldn’t say there is any separation at all. My narrow vision on life doesn’t allow room for me to assume multiple identities.

10-If a movie was to be made about your life who would you pick to play your part? You ever see Jack Lemmon in ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’?

11-What advice would you give putative collectors? Collect the things that, when you see them for the first time, your first urge is to steal them.

12-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration? My studio, especially the new space in Los Angeles. Space, a big window, privacy and air conditioning.

13-How much planning is involved in your paintings or are they purely spontaneous? My work is all done in the moment and I never preplan a painting or a work on paper. Planning kills options and I need to have as many options open to me when I work because of the way I work. Every move is a response to what I am processing in front of me. I work within the active dialogue I am having with my painting and the information I am receiving is real time and requires that I respond quickly. This process doesn’t allow for any preplanning. The result is work that frustrates and surprises in equal measure. It is a difficult way to work because you must first abandon any notion of a plan and accept that there is no clear path to a conclusion. You get engaged and you stay engaged. Time becomes irrelevant and you will marvel at how fast a day can come and go.

14-When you are painting, do you paint for yourself or for an audience? I have accepted that I really have no concept of other people’s tastes. I don’t know what they like and even if I did I am not interested in telling a fictional story to please an audience. I am telling my story in hopes that it resonates with anyone who comes across my work.

15-If you could have one of your pieces at any museum in the world, where would it be? I would love to see my work at the Metropolitan in New York City. I have gotten so much out of their collection that being a part of it would feel like a completed journey.

16- Name three things you can’t live without in your studio? My roll of linen, my old and ever growing collection of paintbrushes and my coffee maker.

17-If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table? Francis Bacon, Willem De Kooning, Louise Bourgeois

18-How would someone find you on Social media? Instagram @robszot or @robertszotstudio

19-If you were asking the questions what question would you ask and please answer the question.

Q: What is the one thing you wish you would have done differently in the first 5 years of your art career?  A: Trusted more in my ability to survive making art and to have courage enough to say ‘no’ to perceived opportunities that didn’t work for me.

20-Please name the first thing that comes to your mind while reading the following:

Art= Honesty

Food= Coffee

Sports= People watching

Politics= Ruination

Sex= of course

Luxury= Time

Poor= Forever

Rich= Forever

God= Odd but interesting sense of humor Religion= Nah

Picasso= Sometimes

Afterlife= Why not? see you there maybe