PAINTINGS, CONSTRUCTIONS & ASSEMBLIES
Richard Robinson:
Paintings, Constructions and Assemblages
Anteros Arts Foundation
3rd April-2nd May 2014
BY A GUEST REVIEWER
RICHARD Robinson (Robbie) was invited to stage a month-long exhibition
of some of his paintings. constructions and assemblages, which relate to
his unique view of landscapes, at the Anteros Arts Foundation in
Richard is well known In the local art community and it is his reputation as an artist, with a longstanding and deep interest in the representation of landscapes that inspired the gallery to invite him to do an exhibition of his work.
Richard Robinson said: 'I was invited by the gallery, who had seen my work previously, to have an exhibition with them.
'I've made two new sculptures and a construction for this exhibition.
'One of the things that Marx said which stuck with me was that: "Man therefore also forms things in accordance with the laws of beauty." (Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844).
'That's a very basic statement which really brings out that art simply doesn't come out of nothing or emerges within human consciousness on its own or any of those things.
'But it arrives from somewhere else; that is to say nature, the objective world, outside our consciousness, the subjective life of human beings.
The thing that is outside of our heads. that is to say objective reality, does change according to natural laws of various kinds and it's that really that objective set of relations that Karl Marx is referring to although obviously he also said the humanised reflection of that, art, is something human and part of humanity and only humanity.
'The law of beauty doesn't simply mean the subjective relations that we call beauty. It's also the objective laws which exist in nature which contain what we can see as beauty, but it's not simply something that belongs to man only.
'Human reflection and art is so much part of that; is a transformation of something that is already there into a human form, a human form subjectively then made, produced in some tangible form out in the real world again.
'I would say my artwork is closer as a source, an art historical source, to cubism, futurism, it's not an eclectic thing.
'All artists are not only immersed in nature but also in the social history of art, it's a huge part of what artists are influenced by, a social context.
'You might also say I've been influenced by people like Vermeer.
'I have recently been focussing upon landscape; landscape has always been a part of me. that is to say nature in its macro form.
'It's been part of my childhood history living In rural communities mainly, I've been out and about in rural areas all my life in one form or another looking at what we. roughly speaking, call landscape.
'Being immersed in it in many ways means I've been getting all that in some form into my consciousness without realising it.
'It's only much more recently that I've tried to tie that together and give it an actual objective form: my memories, the influences on me and so forth.'