Robert Mccallum

My paintings are largely abstract landscapes inspired by memory, myth, and imagination. I work mainly in acrylic and water color.

Bold shapes and saturated color constitute the primary vocabulary of my art. The forms act as visual structures and symbols, drawing the viewer into landscapes that express feelings, thoughts, and ways of seeing rather than depicting a specific place.

Underlying the paintings is an enduring fascination with the paradoxes of human existence and the elaborate systems through which we attempt to organize it. Plato’s characterization of humanity as “featherless bipeds” provides an especially resonant point of departure: an ostensibly rational definition that is also wonderfully reductive and absurd. This tension between order and absurdity, complexity and simplicity, seriousness and play, runs throughout many of the works.

My practice is informed by an extensive engagement with art education, community-based art practice, and academic leadership in the arts. I was a founding member of ArtsAction Group and have taught at New York University, Pratt Institute, and the Allen-Stevenson School. Prior to relocating to the United States, I served as Head of Fine Art and subsequently Dean of the Faculty of Art, De...

I earned my PhD in Art Education from New York University as a scholarship recipient, an MA in Art Education from The Ohio State University as a Fulbright Scholar, and a BA in Art from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

2025.                    Festari Exhibition. Suhareka, Kosovo
2008                     Family Ties. Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts. Millville, New Jersey.
1997, 1998           Paper Prayers for Aids: Collaborative Artmaking. Artists Proof Studio, Johannesburg, S.A.
1994                     Solo Exhibition. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, S.A.
1992                     Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg, S.A.
1992                     New Works.  Gwynn Read Residence, Pretoria. S.A.
1989                     Volkskas Atelier Juried Exhibition.  South African Association of Arts, Pretoria
1989                     Creative Arts Diary, Creative Arts Publishing, Cape Town, S.A.
1989                     MM Mutual and Federal Vita Art Award Exhibition.  Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
1987                     To Know That It’s a Zebra You Need to See the Stripes.  Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg, S.A.
1988                     New Visions.  Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg
1989                     Plate Glass Juried Exhibition.  Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg
1984                     Promising Young Artists Juried Exhibition. Market Theatre Foundation, Johannesburg
1983                     First Solo E...