Robert Bissell grew up in Somerset, England, and retains in his love of art, a love of rural life, Celtic legends and panoramic landscapes. His keen interest in visuals began at an early age while documenting life around him through photographs. Bissell has a bachelor’s degree in photography from the Manchester College of Art, a master’s degree in fine arts from the Royal College of Art in London, and is a self-taught painter. After a successful career in retail advertising, Bissell moved to San Francisco and decided to devote all his time to painting.
Bissell’s work has been featured in numerous solo and select group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and Europe. His paintings are part of many private and corporate (such as Southwest Airlines and Loomis Industries) collections, worldwide. .
His first major monograph, Hero: The Paintings of Robert Bissell, was recently published by Pomegranate Communications, a licensing partner of Bissell's, who have seen great success for several years with Bissell's works on jigsaw puzzles and stationery products.
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Bissell's paintings explore the idea that animals have metaphysical importance to our own spiritual well-being. Early tribal cultures believed the natural world to be the bridge connecting earth and spirit. Animals were regarded as powerful spiritual beings that could connect humans to unseen realms, the natural world, and each other. Along these lines, Robert Bissell creates and transports us to a completely different atmosphere from modern daily life and invites us to learn more about ourselves. Influenced by the surreal legacy of Magritte, he mixes scales and uses gigantism with a variety of textures and subtle color palettes.
"His animal work is full of charged meaning, lore and touched by surrealism", said Suzanne Bellah, Director Carnegie Art Museum.
After a long stay in Northern California, Bissell returned to England where he now lives and has his studio as part of London's vibrant art scene.
