Robert Gober (born September 12, 1954) is anAmericansculptor. His work is often related to domestic and familiar objects such as sinks, doors, and legs.^[1]

Robert Gober
Untitled (1992), mixed media, installed atGlenstone
Born	(1954-09-12)September 12, 1954 (age 70) Wallingford, Connecticut, US
Education	Middlebury College,Vermont,Tyler School of Art in Rome
Known for	Sculpture

Gober was born inWallingford, Connecticut.^[1] Gober settled in New York in 1976 and initially earned his living as a carpenter, crafting stretchers for artists and renovating lofts.^[2] He also worked as an assistant to the painterElizabeth Murray^[2] for five years.^[3]

In 1982-83, Gober createdSlides of a Changing Painting, consisting of 89 images of paintings made on a small piece of plywood in his storefront studio in the East Village; he made a slide of each motif, then scraped off the paint and began again.^[4] One of his most well known series of more than 50 increasingly eccentricsinks – made of plaster, wood, wire lath, and coated in layers of semi-gloss enamel^[5] – he produced in the mid-1980s.^[4][6]

By 1989, Gober was casting beeswax into sculptures of men's legs, completed not only with shoes and trouser legs but also human hair that was inserted into the beeswax.^[6]

In theWhitney Biennial 2012, Gober curated a room ofForrest Bess's paintings and archival materials dealing with the artist's exploration intohermaphrodism.^[7]

During the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Robert Gober, along with other artists, used art to support the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP).^[8] ACT UP was a large group of people that were infuriated by the lack of action from the government and scientists to stop the spread of AIDS and find a cure.^[9] A few artists, including Gober, organized an art auction to help raise funds to donate to ACT UP. Gober'sUntitled (Leg) (1989-1990) alone was sold at a very high price, which helped prove to the public that art can be used to make the voices of the people be heard, to fight for a cause that is important to the communities, and that art is not just a commodity, nor is art just for pleasure.^[8][9]

In 1984, thePaula Cooper Gallery inNew York hosted Gober's first solo exhibition.^[2] TheArt Institute of Chicago presented the artist's first museum exhibition in 1988.^[10] Gober has since had exhibitions of his work inEurope andNorth America. He represented the United States at the 2001Venice Biennale^[11]

In 2007 there was a retrospective exhibition of his work at theSchaulager inBasel.^[12]

Gober participated in the group showLifelike that originated at theWalker Art Center in 2012.^[13]

From October 2014 to January 2015, The Museum of Modern Art, New York presented "Robert Gober: The Heart Is Not a Metaphor", a 40-year retrospective of his work including approximately 130 sculptures, paintings, drawings, prints and photographs. This exhibition was the first large-scale display in the United States.^[14] It was also accompanied by a catalogue of the same name including essays by Hilton Als, Ann Temkin and Christian Scheidemann, plus a chronology by Claudia Carson and Paulina Pobocha with Robert Gober.^[15]

In autumn 2016, two new sculptures by Gober were included in theArtangel exhibition at Reading Prison in England.^[16]

In 2013, theHammer Museum honored Gober along with playwrightTony Kushner at its 11th Annual Gala in the Garden, with Gober being introduced by fellow artistCharles Ray.^[17]

Traditionally the poetics associated with Robert Gober’s artworks are focused on two fields: The surreal and the spiritual: "The almost devotional artisanship imbues common objects with an uncommon gravity, along with the sense of energy, growth and vulnerability that defines real bodies."Roberta Smith.^[18] “He plays with the tension between the neutered forms and the strong emotional and physical connotations we attach to them.”^[19]His artworks represent "The daily human war on dirt "Peter Schjeldahl.,^[20] it works both literally and symbolically. "To be cleansed is to become pure, physically and also spiritually."^[21] In some cases the lavatories represent both the cyclical approach to be cleaner but the impossibility to be fully pure: "The sink still has no water, and the past will never wash off."^[22]

Gober lives with his partnerDonald Moffett.^[23] They reside inNew York City and Maine.

Gober served on the board of directors of theFoundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA).^[24]

• Robert Gober at the Matthew Marks GalleryArchived 2016-04-15 at theWayback Machine
• artcyclopedia
• San Francisco museum of art
• collection at the Guggenheim
• 1978-2000: Rephotographs
• Milwaukee Art Museum
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