Robert Minervini – Counterpoint 2019

Robert Minervini – Counterpoint 2019

My work examines the shifting relationship between the natural world and the built environment through the creation of invented spatial narratives. Working across painting, drawing, and site-specific murals, I utilize tropes from art history, science fiction, and the everyday to construct “non-places” that feel simultaneously nostalgic and futuristic.

Stylistically I am interested in hyper-faux-naturalism—a version of reality heightened by digital intervention and the camera lens. My process is a meticulous physical translation of digital collage into traditional media. I utilize hand-cut stencils, airbrushing, and traditional brushwork to create a tension between the “digitally flat” surface of acrylics and the evident “hand” of the artist. This technical friction underscores the overarching theme of my work: the artifice inherent in our contemporary perception of nature.

Whether depicting grand, desolate landscapes or intricate still lifes set against hazy cityscapes, my work addresses the sublime in an age of climate crisis and urban expansion. By isolating objects—such as flora positioned against construction sites—I invite the viewer to reflect on the ecological impact of humanity and the resilience of the organic within our increasingly structured world.

Biography

Robert Minervini (b. 1981, New Jersey) is a visual artist whose work examines the intersection of the natural world and the built environment. He received his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and his BFA from the Tyler School of Art. His work has been exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions with Hirschl & Adler Modern (NYC), Edward Cella Gallery (LA), and Rena Bransten Gallery (SF). He has participated in group and two-person exhibitions at the San José Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, the Torrance Art Museum, the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

A prolific muralist and public artist, Minervini has completed major commissions for SFO International Airport, the San Francisco Arts Commission, The Alameda County Arts Commission, and the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. He has been awarded residencies at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, the Headlands Center for the Arts, and the Vermont Studio Center.

His work is included in the permanent collections of the San José Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, and the City and County of San Francisco, among others. His practice has been reviewed in the Los Angeles Times, Modern Painters, the San Francisco Chronicle, and featured in New American Paintings.