Born 1995, Tijuana, Mexico.
Lives and works in Tijuana, Mexico.
robertsandrew.com
In the works of the young Latinx artist Andrew Roberts, pop culture and its collective fears come alive. Alive, like zombified. The Walking Dead TV series is probably one of the biggest TV hits of the last decade. What is it that makes the fear of zombies so pervasive? Tracing social tides one can decode the similarities between the rise of two trends linked with deeper psychological similarities than we would like to admit – social media and zombies. Flashback to 2010, the year when the current Facebook platform was launched and when Walking Dead was aired. The need to connect through social media was the biggest trend of the twenty-first century. At the same time, we face the anxiety of losing touch with self, of becoming alienated, anonymous, in constant struggle with hordes of undead, equalised with the mob in an eternal brain-dead state that seems inescapable. In Roberts’ works, chopped hands and legs are props and leftovers of macheted brain-dead victims. Limbs of White Trash, tattooed with their own vices of life-sucking PlayStations and X-Boxes, marked with their favourite brands like hanging pieces of meat with their fading seals still visible. Are they remnants of a cartoon dystopia? Impossible to fail looking down on their ultra-realism, painstakingly moulded in bloodless silicone, we have the choice to remain aloof in our own bloodless, “real” lives.
BRAINDEAD: what comes after, 2020
Tattoo on silicone, 15 x 40 x 20 cm
Private Collection
CARGO: A lone rider in the burning sky and his trusted armored dragon, 2020
Silicone, tattoos, anti-static foam and automotive paint on weapon case, 52 x 50 x 42 cm
Private Collection
PONTYPOOL: too far gone, 2020
Tattoo and piercings on silicone, 25 x 15 x 15 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Pequod Co.
RHYTHM RATTLESNAKE: The world ends with you, baby centipede, 2020
Tatoos on silicone, 15 x 9 x 23 cm
R + S COLLECTION
SMASH: My head fell through the roof and a demon played basketball with it, 2020
Silicone, tattoos, anti-static foam and automotive paint on weapon case,
24 x 5 x 30 cm
R + S COLLECTION