Every so often, an inspired act appears in the realm of creative expression and a gestalt of revelation is given-birth by two opposing parents: historical trappings from our past commingled with the new vibrant force of the present. In such instances, the chemistry, which bubbles over produces a stronger child. The resultant effect becomes much greater than the whole. Human history is resplendent with such happy nativity giving rise to quantum mechanics, the recording of Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue", or the creation of the World Wide Web. As a result, personal lives are forever enriched and mankind’s existence is somehow elevated in increments.
In the world of fine art, the most recent example of such a magical amalgam of influences yielding a deeply personal experience is contained in the latest work of Robert Billings. His current collection produces such an epiphany by combining key elements of old school portraiture and modern fashion. In doing so, Mr. Billings dares, teases and sometimes shocks the viewer into confronting questions to be found at the very foundations of our modern culture; questions which revolve around the relative permanence of tradition vs. fleeting images of high fashion, dominance vs. submission, profound vs. profane, pedigree vs. sexuality, power vs. ecstasy, allegiance to lineage vs. seduction of the stranger, and the place of religion in modern society vs. eschatological influences of modern society on sanctity. In the absence of such questioning there is only blind acceptance and in that ultimately lies the death of culture. Therefore, eventually, through Billings' current collection we arrive at a sense of freedom, feet standing on new ground after an intoxicating initiation.
View Billings' current collection and you will witness the contrast of form, style and intent. Old World lacquer technique is overlaid with the blown up pixels of today's digital world; the whisper of Cubism, the sensuality of the Renaissance, and the highly charged, lush glitz of fashion reside comfortably, lovingly arm in arm. What we value today shows up on our billboards and coffee tables just as in former times, that which was cherished, appeared above the fireplace mantle. In Billings' work, both the decadence of fashion and the stoic manor portrait merge.
These paintings represent a unique kind of desire and fantasy. By enlarging the scope of that mysterious horizon and redirecting the mind to a new level, he invites the viewer to indulge in his fantasy with him. Full of lust and desire, yet devoid of the guilt, these paintings have been created with the intent of producing the broadest range of human emotions. Under Billings' masterful and loving hand, the great masters and the divinely decadent live and breathe on the same canvas producing alluring, exotic, titillating images, which are both provocatively blunt and visually ravishing.
Dow McClenathan Griffith
