The Georgia-based artist Robert Sherer has won international acclaim, representing the United States at the Triennale de Paris in 2002 and the Florence Biennale in 2001 and 2007.Artist Statement
"Like many American boys I grew up in a world of sports, camping, scouting, and war gaming. The secret rites of passage and relationship intrigues played out in the locker rooms, pup tents, and tree houses helped to define me as a man. Because my youth most closely resembles the classic illustrations of camping guide books and scouting manuals of the 1950s and '60s, I have found it necessary to derive my biographical drawings from these visual resource materials. To imbue these wood-burned images with an air of authenticity I render them with actual camp craft materials such as leather, rustic wood, tarpaulin, lanyards and grommets. I am adept with these materials because they were some of my most comforting diversions during those thrilling and perilous years of self discovery. They also provided me with a sense of personal achievement because they earned me merit badges. It is my hope that these works will help others to reconnect with the springtime of life."
