Mike Slobot: Robots on Every Corner is a fun, kid-friendly art show that will be at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center, 119 Ambassador Loop, Cary, through August 4th, 2018. It’s free to visit, and the artwork, including paintings, sculpture and prints, is for sale.
If your vision of the future was largely informed by watching The Jetsons, you will love this exhibit, but it will also spark the imagination of today’s kids.
The art show features Raleigh local artist Mike Slobot’s original robot sculptures and paintings. Blending old and new, Mike presents his friendly robot sculptures and paintings in the First Floor Gallery and the Glass Display Case.
An artist reception takes place on Friday July 27, 2018 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm during the Final Friday Cary Art Loop.
There are 48 pieces being shown in the Main Gallery and the glass case. Included are 16 sculptures from about 4” up to about 24”. The main gallery has 32 drawings, prints and mixed media paintings. They range in size from 8” x 10” up to 30” x 40”. All of the work is for sale and is priced affordably.
Largely self-taught, Mike has been sculpting and painting most of his life. Since 2004, he has been exploring his one-of-a-kind robot art, the Slobots. He is a robot sculptor. He is a robot painter. He is an artist and a storyteller. His robot art creations are explored in both 2D and 3D mediums. The unique characters emerge with background stories (and futures). Slobots are the good guys and are an exercise in exploring human emotions. They are not destructive, but work in conjunction with people, animals and the planet. Slobot artworks deal with the challenges of everyday life – searching for meaning and human emotion through robots.
Slobot sculptures are created with old and new materials and often incorporate bits and pieces of recyclable materials and other everyday detritus. The repurposed parts come together under the Slobot secret sauce as one whole healer, helper or pal. The Slobots are art and tech simultaneously. Each Slobot is a unique piece, a one-of-a-kind in a sea of carbon copies.
I asked Mike about his work and about the show, and to share pictures of a few more of the pieces in the show:
I have been painting and sculpting most of my life. Back in 2004, I was talking to my wife and asked her what I should paint, and she said “Paint me a robot”. I did just that and then it just kind of continued from there. Every once in a while I think I have painted or sculpted the final robot, and then I will sketch out some more ideas or find some inspiration in an object I see. Something about the idea of a robot friend just feels futuristic – I always thought being in the Jetson’s future would be pretty cool.
The exhibit blends old and new. I use the tagline on my website “Remember the Future” and envision that my Slobots are first gen robots from the future. We are seeing them now, so they are both futuristic and outdated at the same time. When I saw the venue for the show, I was really moved by the thought of putting modern and futuristic art in such a building with so much history.
I tend to get inspired by bits and pieces of things I see around me. I especially like plastics, so I use a lot of that in my work – sometimes it’s a plastic cup or a bowl that sparks the idea. When I start working on a new sculpture, it’s usually one piece that gets the idea rolling. I have about 10 huge plastic bins full of pieces and parts – stuff that I have picked up over the years. I will add paint, resin, and other bits and bobs to finish out the robot.
I am also inspired by 50s & 60s Pop Art and Mid-Century / Space Age Design. Some of my favorite artists are Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, and Ellsworth Kelly.
