Robert Russell (born 1971) lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He completed his MFA at The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2006. Russell earned a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Through the use of a frequently subdued color palette, Robert Russell’s representational paintings explore concepts of identity, memory, desire and authenticity. Often self-referential in nature, existential questions regarding the role of an image and the process of memory and imagination arise. Themes include (among others) teacups, art books, portraits of Robert Russell that are not the artist, clouds, pigs, children and most recently paintings of Allach Porcelain figurines. With his two most recent exhibitions Falling Teacups and Porzellan Manufaktur Allach, Russell both holds on to his past and expands on it. His previous exhibitions"Teacups, Book Paintings and Revisits" explored the visual tropes of the artist monograph, Memento More Still life and continued his conceptual interest in authority, authenticity, and iconography. Recent solo exhibitions include Anat Ebgi Gallery, Miles McEnery Gallery, The Cabin LA, LA><ART (Los Angeles), François Ghebaly Gallery (LA), Osmos (New York, NY) and Burrard Arts Foundation (Vancouver, BC Canada) where he was also an artist in residence. He has been included in numerous group shows in Los Angeles including Roberts and Tilton Gallery, Material Press MOCA LA and M+B Gallery.