Robert Lucanders’ paintings are portraits of people in social situations,
insignificant moments, in front of a monochrome background, cropped by the framing. The sources for the images — glamorous models, musicians, politicians, icons of social elevation — are taken from high-gloss magazines: cool, calculated photographs, advertising fashion, club culture, pop, and lifestyles. Additionally, the actual source for this series is taken from Alibi, a cheap Finnish magazine, which offers criminals in jail a forum to
reintegrate into society by admitting their faults publicly. Lucander
confronts these two worlds with one another, and in so doing blurs the social boundaries between ‘normal’ and ‘evil.’
His materials are simple: pencil, industrial acrylic paint on standard
wooden boards from the hardware store, and he uses them with a
particular interest in the natural character of the surface. Like human skin, it reacts to sunlight and darkness quickly, displaying blemishes that the artist emphasizes or counteracts with elaborate pencil drawings of faces and hands in unique detail. Lucander’s paintings reflect superficiality, point to the void in society, and go beyond the alibi.
— Angela Rosenberg

Selected solo exhibitions: 2003: Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin; 2002: Kunsthall, Bergen, Norway; Anhava, Helsinki; 2001: Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin; Turun Taidemuseo, Turku; Amos Andersson, Helsinki; 2000: Contemporary Fine Arts, Förderkoje; Tommy Lund, Copenhagen; Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin; Krister Fahl, Stockholm.
Selected group exhibitions: 2002: Stop for a moment, Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul; 2000: Taidepuutarha, Töölöönlahti 2000, Helsinki; Labyrintti, Helsinki Art Hall; Soft Parade, Konsthall, Skövde, Sweden; 1999: Open Sudios, New York; Europa Artline, Borken, Germany; Presentation. Grafik fran Ateljè Larsen, Tomarp Kungsgard, Kvidinge, Sweden.