R O B E R T H A R D G R A V E

t o y t a l i t y

new drawings, paintings and sculpture

Nod, plaster of paris, gouache, wax, 8 x 7 x 7 in, 2017

Toytality, defines my philosophy about making art.

Toytality: allowing oneself to consider everything available to you as either a raw material or as a borrowable idea.
R.H.

Robert Hardgrave has made a significant contribution to visual arts in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade. A finalist for the 2014 and 2016 Cornish College of the Arts Neddy Award in Painting and nominee for the 2014 Portland Art Museum’s Contemporary Northwest Arts Awards. Hardgrave has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, New York, and Madrid, Spain. He is a member of the Duwamish River Residency, and his work is part of the permanent collections of Microsoft, Starbucks, King County and the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts.
Hardgrave's playful approach to art making in the studio brings about a sense of endless bounty and exuberance to his work. "I change media regularly and process each to a point where I feel proficient. This helps ideas feel fresh and uncharted. Each new material requires unique allowances; I want materials to guide the work toward what it is going to be." In toytality he draws with ink on tempera, he paints on burlap with gouache, he sculpts with plaster and draws in to the surface. This will be Robert Hardgrave's first solo exhibition with i.e.

Juete, ink on tempera on paper mounted on panel, 13 x 10 in, 2017