Peter Robinson (born 1966, Ashburton /Kāi Tahu) studied sculpture at Ilam School of Fine Arts (1985-1989), and now lives and works in Auckland. Robinson’s work has been exhibited extensively in New Zealand and internationally. He was New Zealand’s representative at the 49th Venice Biennale (2001), participated in the 13th Istanbul Biennale (2013), 11th and 18th Biennale of Sydney (1998/2012) and the 8th Baltic Triennale of International Art, Vilnius (2002).
Robinson’s work has been included in major international touring exhibitions including: Continental shift, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen (2000); Toi Toi Toi: three generations of artists from New Zealand, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel (1999); and Cultural safety: contemporary art from New Zealand, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main (1995). Robinson was nominated for the Walters Prize in 2006 for The Humours at Dunedin Public Art Gallery, and again in 2008 when he won for his exhibition ACK at Artspace, Auckland.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 2006-2020
2020
Notations, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne (solo)
2019
A distant relative, Hopkinson Mossman, Wellington (group)
Companion Pieces (with Ava Seymour), Sydney, Sydney (group)
2018
The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT9), QAGOMA, Brisbane (group)
Spinning (with Phillip Lai), Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland (group)
Fieldwork, Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA), Christchurch (solo)
Sculpture Salon, curated by James Gatt, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney (group)
2017
Schisms, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne (solo)
After Party, Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland (solo)
2016
Politics of Sharing, ifa Gallery, Berlin (group)
Light switch and conduit: the Jim Barr and Mary Barr collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery (group)
2015
Neither Forward nor Back: Acting in the Present, Jakarta Biennial 2015 (curated by Charles Esche)
Die Cuts & Derivations, Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland (solo)
SYNTAX, Artspace, Auckland (solo)
Recreation Centre, Centre Pompidou (solo)
2014
Peter Robinson & Simon Terrill: The Piranesi Effect, Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, Melbourne (two person)
Pequod, Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland (group)
Diversions, Peter McLeavey, Wellington (solo)
2013
Tribe Subtribe, The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt (solo)
Cuts and Junctures, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington (group)
Acktion Painting / Acktion Sculpture, Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland (solo)
Ruses & Legacies, Mom am I a Barbarian?: 13th Istanbul Biennale (curated by Fulya Edermci)
If You Were to Work Here (The Mood in the Museum), The 5th Auckland Triennial (curated by Hou Hanru), Auckland Art Gallery and Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland
Light Sweet Crude, Hopkinson Cundy, Auckland (group)
2012
Defunct Mnemonics, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington (solo)
Gravitas Lite, 18th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney
Structure and Subjectivity, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland (solo)
Contact: Artists from Aotearoa, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt (group)
2011
Weigh Up, Hong Kong International Art Fair 2011, Hong Kong
Essential Security, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne (solo)
2010
Defence Mechanisms and Coping Strategies, Brooke-Gifford Gallery, Christchurch
Modern Standards, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland (solo)
Polymer Monoliths, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington (solo)
Installation, Hong Kong International Art Fair, Hong Kong
The Influence of Anxiety, Centre for Drawing Project Space, University of the Arts, London (group)
2009
Polymer Monoliths, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (solo)
Polymer Monolith 1, Artspace, Sydney (solo)
2008
Snow Ball Blind Time, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth (solo)
Ack, The Walters Prize, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland (solo)
Promethean Dreams, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland (solo)
Closed Cell Construction, Jar, Auckland (solo)
Soft Rock Baroque, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington (solo)
Line Works, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
2007
Concatenation and Dispersion, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
Bad Forms and Blind Faith, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch
New sculpture, Galerie Kapinos, Berlin
Polyglot, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
2006
Ack, Artspace, Auckland (solo)
New Drawings, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington
The Humours, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin (solo)
SELECTED REVIEWS
Anthony Byrt, “18th Biennale of Sydney”, Artforum, November 2012, vol 51, no.3
Madeline O’Dea, “18th Biennale of Sydney”, Modern Painters, September 2012
Martin Patrick, “Good Intentions”, Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism, vol 40, No. 2, 2012
Veronica Tello, “Rhetorical Gestures: The 18th Biennale of Sydney”, Afterall/online
Emily Cormack, “18th Biennale of Sydney”, Frieze, No. 150, October 2012
Andrew Paul Wood, “White Mass, black comedy”, The New Zealand Listener, June 16 2007
Edward Hanfling, “Exhibitions – Auckland”, Art New Zealand, no. 123 Winter 2007
Tessa Laird, “Creed and Colour”, The New Zealand Listener, October 28 2006
Tessa Laird, “Swimsuit issue”, The New Zealand Listener, Sept 30 2006
T J McNamara, “Ambitious Art Moves Beyond the Square”, The New Zealand Herald, Sept 27 2006
Justin Paton, “Peter Robinson”, Frieze, Issue 121, March 2009
Robert Nelson, “Ties that bind hypnotise the eyes and disturb the mind”, The Melbourne Age, 20 August 2008
Toby Miller, “Peter Robinson”, Art and Australia, vol. 46, no.2 Summer 2008
Tessa Laird, “Eddies and Floes: The Walters Prize 2008”, Art and Australia. vol.46. No.2. (2008): pp.212-213. Summer. Journal
David Levinson, “Frozen in Uncertainty”, The New Zealand Listener, vol 211, 17-23 November 2007
Kate Montgomery, “Exhibitions – Christchurch”, Art New Zealand, No. 124 Spring 2007
SELECTED WRITINGS AND ESSAYS
Natasha Conland, “Greek Plastics”, Contemporary Visual Art Broadsheet, vol 41.2 June 2012
Allan Smith, “Hegel, Negation and How to Levitate the Minimalist Object”, Peter Robinson, Polymer Monoliths, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2011
Allan Smith, “Chain Reactions and Cryogenic Catastrophe in Peter Robinson’s Frozen Apocalypse”, Snow Ball Blind Time, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 2010
Rhana Devenport, “Peter Robinson: Snow Ball Blind Time (Between Spectacle and Secrets)”, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 2010
Rachel Kent, “Snow Ball Blind Time”, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 2010
“New Zealand”, Art Asia Pacific almanac. Vol.4, 2009
Stella Brennan, “Petrochemical Wonderland”, Eyeline: Contemporary Visual Arts, Number 69
Edward Colless, “Peter Robinson: Cultural Castaway”, Australian Art Collector, Issue 49, July-September 2009
“Awards, Prizes and Residencies”, Art news, vol.29. No.2. Winter 2008
Allan Smith & Peter Robinson, “Desperation, intuition, explanation: A conversation with Peter Robinson”, Art New Zealand, No. 130, Autumn 2009
Philip Matthews, “Ice Planet”, The New Zealand Listener, 7 October 2006
Ron Brownson, “Peter Robinson”, The Walter’s Prize 2008, Auckland City Art Gallery Toi O Taamaki, 2008
John Hurrell, “In the midst of a whiteout.” Art News, vol.29. No.3, 2008
Andrew Clifford, “Locked in a room full of secrets”, The New Zealand Herald, Wednesday 27 September 2006
Francis Pound, “The Invention of New Zealand, Art and National Identity 1930-1970”, Auckland University Press 2009