Original Sin

Friday, May 8, 2015

oil and latex on panel, 24x18 inches, 2015

Oil on panel, 24x18 inches, 2015

Robert Farmer: ‘ORIGINAL SIN’ is the title of a new series of paintings by Robert Farmer that explores themes of atheism and contemporary culture through paintings of Star Wars Stormtroopers and other pop culture icons. Commenting on the diminishing allure of organized religion, and the new customs and beliefs associated with a pop-culture driven society, the artist suggests that something like Star Wars may be a suitable substitute for religion given its emphasis on admiration and inclusiveness as opposed to judgment and repercussion. Farmer plays with the genders and body language of these mass-produced agents of the dark side of the force, altering their severe lack of personality and independence in the simultaneously draconian and fictional world of the space opera. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1968. An Emily Carr drop-out in 1996, he finished foundation year at Kootenay School of the Arts in Nelson, BC in 1999. Farmer moved to Toronto in 1999 and was a co-founder of Eastern Front Gallery from 2003-2006. Based in Leslieville, Toronto, he maintains a consistent practice in and out of the community.

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