Justin Roiland Talks Art, Creativity, And New Exhibition, ‘Debut’

Justin Roiland has partnered with UTA Artist Space for his first solo art exhibition, Justin Roiland: Debut. The animator, voice actor, and co-creator of Rick and Morty and Hulu’s Solar Opposites is better known for his work in TV, but with Debut, he is pushing his talent into the art world.

Debut opened this month and runs in the Beverley Hills-based gallery until January 21, 2023. The Founder and CEO of Squanch Games, Roiland, is currently under an overall deal at 20th Television. However, his exhibition marks his work’s first-ever solo, physical presentation. The UTA has presented notable shows with interdisciplinary artists and creatives, including Enrique Martinez Celaya, Mandy El-Sayegh, Conrad Egyir, The Estate of Ernie Barnes, Essence Harden, Larry Clark, Ferrari Sheppard, Amanda Hunt, Mariane Ibrahim, Arcmanoro Niles, The Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery, The Haas Brothers, and Ai Weiwei, among others.

“I had never painted [before,] really,” Roiland explains. Aside from a Bob Ross-style painting class as a kid, Roiland’s artistic career has mainly focused on inking characters for animation projects. However, in May of 2021, UTA contacted Roiland about doing an original art piece for an auction at Sotheby’s.

“I was basically going to do just what I always did, which is ink on Bristol,” he says. “I was telling my friend, and he started asking me why I didn’t paint. ‘Why don’t you paint something big?” And I had every excuse… ‘I can’t do that. I don’t know how to paint. I don’t understand color in a deeper way or in any real significant way.’ He finally just said, ‘Well, let’s go and buy a canvas and break it over our knee and throw the trash’ or something like that.”

Roiland did buy a canvas, and the next day he started experimenting with just the primary colors and black and white paint. At first, color was the big concern for Roiland. When it came to animation, he usually had his color team on Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites handle the color for him. “I’d have broad thoughts, but when it came down to the nitty gritty… I had this feeling that color really wasn’t my territory.” On his first day experimenting with paint, however, he unlocked something. He painted seven pieces that day which sparked a love for the medium.

Instead of his usual video gaming or lego set building, Roiland spent that summer painting to unwind, and those paintings became the basis for his UTA show. Roiland’s animation career has been full of “weird creatures,” which is reflected in his debut art show; however his approach to color brings a new life to these pieces.

“I have a few paintings where I sat down, and I took quite a while mixing the exact colors that I wanted and then I didn’t paint it for two months,” he says. “The color part of this is so new and awesome, but it also feels safe now. I’m comfortable there now. Before, I was never comfortable with color. I only focused on just line work and character. I feel like with painting, I can focus more on a subconscious kind of free expression of emotion and color. It’s much more fluid and maybe with less intention. There’s a less focused intent in a lot of the paintings”.

With his game studio and TV work, Roiland is surrounded by large groups of talented creators to support his vision; however, when it comes to painting, the activity is a solo pursuit.

“With painting, it’s just me alone with a bunch of paint and canvas. I never thought that the big plan for this was a gallery showing.” He continues, “This was so fun and freeing. It’s such a different form of artistic expression that I didn’t even know I was allowed to do or capable of doing.”

But the show came together as Roiland produced more and more pieces outside of his original plan for the Sotheby’s auction. “I wasn’t really thinking about a collection or any sort of cohesion for a while,” he says. “I think that’s good, though, because it really is the truest expression of the passion and the excitement [Ifelt.] The work itself was really coming from a place of just discovery and excitement at how different the creative form of expression is compared to the other types of art.”

Roiland has recently been busy. Between two shows on the air, his videogame studio and other projects, Roiland keeps taking on creative projects. “It’s weird. I keep saying I need to slow down. I’m doing too many things, but then I just don’t. I can’t. I just get too excited about certain ideas.”

For Debut, Roiland worked at a fever pitch. However more recently, he has slowed down and started to explore more styles in his art. “Where I’m going now is definitely very different. Although I still am doing those kinds of pieces [like the ones in Debut] here and there, the stuff I’m doing now just couldn’t be more different than that. I don’t know when I’m going to do another gallery. It could be a long time from now, but it’ll be quite a surprise for people because it’s so different from my first gallery.”

Fine arts might not have been in Roiland’s plans, but Debut symbolizes both a challenge and an accomplishment for the artist. “People just assume they can’t do something,” he says. “I’m going try sculpting more. I never thought I would do any of this stuff, and I know I’m not ever going to be the best at it, but I think if you approach something with really low stakes, no expectations, and you just want to enjoy yourself, [you can do it.] There’s just a lot of blockers people have for different things.”

Justin Roiland: Debut is on display at UTA Artist Space, Beverly Hills, through January 21, 2023.