Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Artist airs political views with show

A Retrospective

Heather Cory

Danny Roberts, a local artist, gets ready for his show, “A Retrospective,” that on display at the Art Institute of Las Vegas.

A Retrospective

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Beyond the Sun

For all those Americans who want to stick it to the Man, the financial institutions and all those systems that put into play one of the most devastating recessions in modern American history, there's Danny Roberts.

He's a social commentator. He paints emotion.

"A lot of my work is about power, authority figures, questioning authority," Roberts said.

He's giving the finger, all five fingers wrapped around a paintbrush, to those who build their wealth off the backs of the working class.

Roberts' retrospective, encompassing about five years of professional work, will be at the Art Institute of Las Vegas until April 6.

"Danny Roberts: A Retrospective" will be the largest show of the artist's work.

"He has an edgy quality," Davis Hawk, Art Institute gallery committee chairman, said. "But the ideas are refined. It's not just him slapping paint on a canvas because he saw something he didn't like on CNN or 'Dateline.' There are focused ideas he's trying to get out, which is relevant to everyone."

Like "The Lords of Good Intentions," which shows two almost identical-looking men shaking hands while balancing on a tightrope. One is portrayed with the Republican red, the other in Democratic blue. Behind their backs are full arsenals of handguns and assault weapons.

"The only important part of the painting to me was the handshake," Roberts said. "That's supposed to be the sign of hope, but you see everything they are up against is there. They are equally armed on both sides."

"There Are No Picassos Downtown" is a response to Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's brazen comment about the downtown arts district, where Roberts' gallery, Damned Ink Studios inside the Arts Factory, is located. It shows a man in a gas mask covering up urban graffiti art.

Roberts, 36, said he isn't the type to blame all of society's woes on the evil corporate machine. That can be a "juvenile view," he said. He admits some ideological similarities to guerilla artist Shepard Fairey, but with a style similar to Phil Hale and Ron English.

Roberts doesn't look like a social deviant. He looks blue collar, a hefty guy with a receding hair line. His brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail. He has a trimmed goatee and bright brown eyes. He's a Las Vegas native, a Valley High grad of 1990.

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist per se," Roberts said. "And with whatever I'm trying to say, I make sure there's some hope in it."

Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or [email protected].

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