Black artist spotlight: Tattoo artist turned oil painter Marcus Robins

Self-taught oil painter Marcus Robins has been honing his craft for three years and hopes his work sparks dialogue and inspires the next generation.

Robins was a first-time exhibiting artist at BUTTER 5 earlier this year, with two massive Renaissance-style paintings entitled “See No Evil” and “Triumphant.” In an interview with the Recorder, Robins said it was his father who introduced him and his siblings to art at a very young age.

“He would have us do arts and crafts nights, and he would have all kinds of different mediums in front of us … just trying to figure out who is good at what,” Robins said. “He used to single me out, and he would say, ‘I want you to draw this chair.’ … I remember hating it. I’m over here, drawing the chair, and I’m like, ‘Dad, can I go outside and play with the rest of my siblings?”

As irritating as it was for a young Robins, he admitted that his father recognized his potential and did his best to nurture it, even if he didn’t realize it at the time.

“Drawing the chair is something I realized is my dad having this pre-cognitive ability to know how important art would be to me,” Robins added. “My dad has been a major part of my art journey. He’s also an artist. He’s a sculptor. He does woodworking. He’s a master carpenter.”

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In high school, Robins took some of the art classes that were offered but said he didn’t “feel connected to (it) at the time.” On a technical level, he could do the things being asked, but it wasn’t until he graduated and joined the Air Force that Robins really started to hone in on his drawing.

“With the stressful environment, I needed to decompress. I needed something that would allow me to have more balance, so I would draw,” Robins said. “It actually led to me becoming a tattoo artist while I was in the military. … This is an awesome way to balance out my stress, balance out my life.”

After leaving the military, Robins got a job working for Rolls-Royce in aerospace gas turbine engine experimental configuration, another job that Robins said requires some balance in the form of a creative hobby. However, after living in England for a few years and using his free time to travel to Venice, Versailles, and Greece to view Renaissance and Baroque style art, Robins started to notice a lack of representation in the works he so admired.

“I knew something was disjointed, something was missing, because I always had a reverence for this style — my dad used to take me to the Chicago Museum of Art. I would look at chronic splash at the age of six and seven, and I just feel floored, frozen,” Robins said. “As I got older, I started to feel this disconnection, maybe even this guilt for loving this style so much when I didn’t see enough of me.”

That’s when Robins decided to try oil painting and recreate these styles with Black and brown subjects in mind.

In the art world, oil painting is often regarded as a “daunting” or “dreadful” medium due to its difficulty, Robins said. However, his 10 years of experience as a tattoo artist gave him the confidence to approach oil painting with a completely different mindset.

“Tattoo art allowed me to feel more comfortable and less afraid of oil painting,” Robins said. “Because you can’t really make mistakes in the tattoo world, so now if I paint it wrong, I’ll paint over it, and somebody’s not, like, cursing me out because I messed up their tattoo.”

Robins’ style stands at the intersection of classical technique and contemporary Black identity. He uses the Flemish method — which incorporates a seven-layer approach — but admits to a tendency to “glaze on more saturation.” He pays meticulous attention to detail when it comes to lighting, depth, emotion and cultural narrative in his paintings.

Robins’ paintings aim to reflect a “dialogue between tradition and modernity,” which both celebrates his Nigerian heritage and invites viewers to engage with the visual storytelling. However, Robins’ biggest goal as an artist is simply to increase visibility for Black oil painters and representation for the next generation.

“I think my hope for all of this is more inclusion, more representation in museums,” Robins said. “As artists, we have this obsession with whatever it is that we’re appreciating in the moment. I am obsessed with Renaissance, Baroque, Caravaggio (and) Gentile. But I know I’m one of few. I don’t think that is the majority of little Black kids or little brown kids. I don’t know if there’s enough appreciation for fine art in that style. I don’t know if there’s enough appreciation for art history.”

Robins said he felt as though he had to “wait to start painting” until a time where something important was going on.  In a time where Black history and culture is being erased, Robins said he knew he needed to pay homage and add to the culture through his art. Hopefully seeing his work in exhibitions like BUTTER would inspire Black kids to dip their toe into the fine art world, knowing there is a place for them there, Robins said.

For more information about Marcus Robins’ work or to view his portfolio, visit marcusrobinsart.com. 

Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.