Working in both two and three dimensions, Robert Therrien transforms elements from the culture of everyday life into works of art that evoke classical archetypes. His deceptively simple oeuvre lends itself to psychological interpretation, given its evident fascination with the narratives of childhood, while remaining firmly objective due to its literal proximity to the real and its relationship to the minimal.
Therrien was born in 1947 in Chicago. His work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including Inverleith House, Edinburgh, Scotland (2004); Table and Six Chairs, Public Art Fund, New York (2005); A New Installation by Robert Therrien, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York (2006); Tables and Chairs, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (2007); Works on Paper, Kunstmuseum Basel (2008); Artist Rooms: Robert Therrien, Tate Modern, London (2009, travelled to Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Tate Liverpool, England; Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast; and Paxton House, Scotland, through 2015); Drawings, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2010); De Pont Museum, Tilburg, Netherlands (2011); Selections from the Broad Collection and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2011); Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York (2013); The Contemporary Austin, Texas (2015); The Power of the Image, Denver Art Museum (2016); and Works 1975–1995, Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London (2016).
Therrien lives and works in Los Angeles.
Text courtesy Gagosian.

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