Robert Hromec

Overview

Robert Hromec (b. 1970) is an artist whose practice merges painting, printmaking, and experimental mixed media. He holds an MFA in Painting from Hunter College, New York (1998), and a BA in Printmaking from The City College of New York (1995). His early formation includes studies at the Pratt Institute (1990–91), a teaching assistantship in the Painting Department at Hunter College (1997–98), and six formative years working at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1992–98). He later expanded his academic and artistic framework by earning an ArtD degree from the Technical University in Bratislava (2002), following a London Exchange Grant at The Slade School of Fine Art.

During his eight years in New York, Hromec developed the hybrid technique he calls “printpainting”—a fusion of painterly gesture and printmaking processes that defines his visual language. His recent works deepen this exploration through the use of aluminum plates, where texture, surface, and optical illusion interact to create dynamic perceptual effects.

Hromec’s award-winning work has been featured in more than seventy exhibitions across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Highlights include a 1997 group exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as presentations at Lucca Center for Contemporary Art, Area35 Art Gallery in Milan, Galleria Arte Spazio Tempo in Venice, Extrartis in Sorrento, Museo Rocca di Dozza in Bologna, Museo Cortijo Miraflores in Marbella, United Nations Plaza in Geneva and New York, Claudine Hohl Gallery in Zurich, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Bratislava, and various cultural institutions across Prague, Budapest, Berlin, Vienna, Graz, Heeze, and beyond.

Two monographs have been dedicated to his work: Twenty Years (Danubiana Meulensteen Museum of Art, 2010) and Robert Hromec: New Mixed-Media Paintings on Aluminum Plate (Cantor Art Press, New York, 2013), the latter now included in the libraries of several major US museums.

In 2016, Hromec expanded his creative practice into design, creating the limited-edition SILENZIO intarsia sideboard (edition of 21) for Laura Meroni in Italy.

He is the recipient of multiple international awards, including the Premio COMEL (Latina, Rome, 2024) and the Extrartis Prize (Sorrento, 2022). Over the past decade, he has worked closely with numerous Italy-based galleries and curators, including Arianna Grava, Maurizio Vanni, Letizia Rostagno, Alberto Desirò, Martina Campese, Francesca Ciampa, Area35 Art Gallery in Milan, and AD Gallery in Florence.

Hromec lives and works in Bratislava.

Artist statement:
“I build my images using diverse techniques mixed with printmaking; this overlapping and layering continually brings new discoveries. Human figures lie at the center of my work—placed in dialogue with one another, with themselves, and with the surrounding world. Through an exploration of texture and the body, I seek to reveal a dynamic equilibrium between the worldly and the otherworldly, a continuity that binds human beings, the world, and the spirit.”

Works