Robert Matheson (b. 1978) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans plein air painting, poetry, generative art, and community-based public art projects. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, he studied graphic design before spending over a decade in web design and teaching. He began painting en plein air in San Diego in 2012 and later based his practice in Newberry, South Carolina, and Gold Beach, Oregon.
In Newberry, South Carolina, Matheson founded Newberry Made in 2019, a registry of local artists and makers that grew to include more than 200 members, and started the Newberry Photo Group the same year. In April 2021 he began the #Poetree Community Art Project, hanging poetry on a tree in downtown Newberry and inviting the community to add their own, a project that later extended to other South Carolina towns. That October he opened the NFT Museum in Newberry, a space intended to give artists a physical and virtual venue for creating, collaborating on, and exhibiting NFT art, and minted a Genesis NFT to mark its opening.
Matheson began releasing generative art on fx(hash) in April 2022, starting with Red Dot, followed by Refactor and Meet Arty, and signed his digital work with a red dot from then on. In December 2022 he released Nothing But Trash, a generative art token built with code from ChatGPT that incorporated CC0 trash art, including AI-generated visuals. He co-curated group exhibitions of generative art at the NFT Museum, including “The Floor” in March 2023, featuring twelve digital artists, and the year-long “SESSIONS” later that month.
From 2023 Matheson also adapted his poetry and prose into song lyrics, releasing music under the name Matheson Studios with AI-assisted melodies.,In December 2024 he acquired a former dental-office building in Gold Beach, Oregon, to house the Matheson Art Studio and Gallery, returning to plein air painting on the West Coast.
