Member's Spotlight Exhibition: Simon Robins: Sociable

June Member's Spotlight Exhibition: Simon Robins

Simon Robins: Sociable 

June 5-27, 2026

Opening Reception: June 5 (First Friday), 6 - 8 pm

The paintings in Simon Robins: Sociable, contain imagery sourced from public domain and found photographs discovered through extensive research by the artist in digital archives. Cropping, recoloring, and recontextualizing these images, Robins transforms fragments of anonymous histories into works that feel at once familiar and elusive.

Robins’ practice is deeply informed by his work as a collections librarian and faculty member at University of Dayton, where he regularly navigates institutional archives and historical image collections. By removing photographs from their original context, his paintings invite viewers to reconsider how images shape collective memory and how archives reflect systems of power, inclusion, and omission.

In these works, Robins explores themes of social alienation, belonging, and the quiet tensions embedded within everyday interactions. His paintings evoke the visual language of post-war photography and design while raising timely questions about authorship, historical bias, and the lingering influence of institutional narratives. Through carefully composed and psychologically charged imagery, Robins creates space for reflection on the ways people connect, observe, and exist within larger social structures.

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The Contemporary Dayton

Member's Spotlight Exhibition: Simon Robins: Sociable is taking place at The Contemporary Dayton, which is located at 25 W 4th Street in Dayton. The Contemporary Dayton - The Contemporary Dayton is a non-profit gallery and artist resource that provides art for the community and a community for artists. (Formerly Dayton Visual Arts Center / DVAC).