Coombs grew up in Michigan's majestic Upper Peninsula where he spent his childhood roaming the great outdoors. He started photographing his walkabouts in middle school and moved on to portraiture in high school. Coombs received a scholarship to Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids Michigan. During his third year in undergrad, Coombs sustained a spinal cord injury due to a gymnastics training accident. After a year of recovery, he returned to KCAD and received his BFA in photography in 2013. Coombs' photography explores the intersections of disability and sexuality. Themes of relationships, caregiving, fetish, and sex are depicted and explored throughout. Coombs graduated from the Yale School of Art with his MFA amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and is currently residing in coastal Alabama.
Education
MFA Photography, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT (2020)
BFA Photography, Kendall College of Art and Design, Grand Rapids, MI (2013)
Awards
United States Artists Fellow (2022) – USA Artist Profile
Aperture Portfolio Prize Finalist (2022) – Aperture Foundation
BOFFO Fire Island Residency (2022)
Wynn Newhouse Award (2020) – Recipient Profile
Richard Benson Prize, Yale School of Art (2020) – Yale School of Art Bulletin
Critical Practice Award, Yale School of Art (2019)
Solo Exhibitions
2024 – No Content Warning, ONE Archives at USC Libraries, Los Angeles, CA
2022 – Fire Island Pines, BOFFO Artist Residency, Fire Island Pines, NY
2021 – Notions of Care, Frost Art Museum FIU, Miami, FL
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
Queer Lens: A History of Photography, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Degenerate Art in the Age of DOGE, Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, CA
2024
BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY), Traveling Exhibition
I'm Sorry, this Space Is Reserved, Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen, Denmark
Gorgeousness: A Summer Pride Show, HeyBenrubi Gallery, New York, NY
2023
Disrupt And Resist, Mason Exhibitions, Arlington, VA
Beholding Relations, Unit London (Online)
2022
Pure Joy, 1969 Gallery, New York, NY
Variance, RISD Museum, Providence, RI
2021
Photo Vogue Festival, Base Milano, Milan, Italy
REFRACTION, Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta, Malta
IT’S MUCH LOUDER THAN BEFORE, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA
Hindsight 2020, Yale School of Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
Selected Publications
O'Leary, Erin F. “For Pleasure and Pictures,” Momus (2025)
Coombs, Robert Andy. “Pride Diary 2023,” NYC Tourism + Conventions
Robert McRuer and Jaklin Romine. “Double Take: Robert Andy Coombs,” RISD Museum Publications
“United States Artists Announces 2022 Fellowships,” ARTFORUM
“Announcing the 2022 Aperture Portfolio Prize Shortlist,” Aperture
Saltz, Jerry. “Pleasure, Helplessness, Fear, and Taboo,” Vulture (2020)
Teaching
University of Miami, Lecturer in Photography (2021–2023)
Collections
RISD Museum, Providence, RI
ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, Los Angeles, CA