Robert Sullivan is an artist based in Portland, Maine.

Working with oil as his primary medium, Sullivan holds a contemporary lens up to the traditions of figure painting and narrativity. Color theory, transparency, and conceptual frameworks embedded within the imagery push the expected conventions of the genre towards unfamiliar, allusive meaning. His technical facility with paint is a product of his traditional training in the craft, but the conceptual platform of his work is wholly modern, drawing upon the pictorial zeitgeist of visual culture. This creates a working duality within his pictures, allowing figure painting’s storied history to have a dialogue with the discourse of the present.

Sullivan possesses an expansive range to his artist’s career, with painting, digital media, design, illustration, critical theory, and writing integral to his educational and professional experiences. Currently a lecturer at Lesley Art+Design, Sullivan specializes in seminars related to visual culture. His art is exhibited across galleries and collections from New York City, Boston, throughout New England, and beyond.