Robert Nava

Nava’s large-scale paintings are characterized by their raw energy and a playful, unrefined style that blends spray paint, acrylics, and grease pencil. These fantastical beasts, with their vibrant colors and dynamic forms, challenge the conventions of high art, encouraging a return to the boundless imagination of childhood.

After earning his MFA from Yale University, Nava consciously moved away from the traditional rules and formal attitudes he had been taught, aligning his approach with the spirit of “bad” painting—a term coined by the New Museum’s founding curator, Marcia Tucker, in 1978. Despite their seemingly spontaneous appearance, Nava’s hybrid monsters—ranging from dragon-like beings to angelic figures—are carefully composed, with each iteration refined in his sketchbooks. Drawing serves as the foundation of his practice, a daily exercise in creativity and invention.

Often created to the pulsating rhythm of techno music, Nava’s paintings evoke a world brimming with magic and transformation, where creatures exist on the cusp of metamorphosis. While his work offers a refuge from the cynicism and dystopian tendencies of contemporary life, it does not shy away from darker themes. The fierce, almost primal energy of his creatures, combined with the graffiti-like markings reminiscent of Cy Twombly and Jean-Michel Basquiat, imbues his work with an undercurrent of violence and destruction. Through this interplay, Nava’s art reconnects viewers with a childlike sense of wonder and creativity, while also reflecting on the complexities of innocence lost and rediscovered.

Robert Nava’s work is held in prestigious collections including the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, The Columbus Museum of Art, the Orange County Museum of Art, and the Zuzeum Art Center in Riga, Latvia. His art has been showcased in numerous solo exhibitions both in the U.S. and internationally, including Bloodsport (2022) at Night Gallery, Robert Nava (2021) at Pace East Hampton, Robert Nava (2021) at Pace Palm Beach, Robert Nava: Angels (2021) at Vito Schnabel Gallery, and Robert Nava (2020) at Sorry We're Closed in Brussels.