walter Robinson

New York-based artist and critic whose paintings and writings have been influential in the avant garde since the 1970’s.

In the 1970’s he founded the art zine Art-Rite, subsequently he served as news editor for Art in America (1080-96), and founding editor at Artnet Magazine (1996-2012). In 2014 his essay for Artspace.com coined the useful term 'Zombie Formalism'.

A member of the Pictures Generation, his work often reinterprets mid-century book covers. He translates them through exaggerating the visual language and paint application of that era of illustration, also cropping, rearranging narratives. The paintings evoke the feeling of looking at merchandise, such as paperback books, rather than trying to evoke the narrative the original item was trying stir. Robinson uses this approach with other commercial items as well, repainting images from clothing catalogues and product photography. 

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