Installation view of Peter Robinson: Charcoal Drawing, Whangārei Art Museum, 2024. Photo: Nimmy Santhosh
Installation view of Peter Robinson: Charcoal Drawing, Whangārei Art Museum, 2024. Photo: Nimmy Santhosh
Installation view of Peter Robinson: Charcoal Drawing, Whangārei Art Museum, 2024. Photo: Nimmy Santhosh
2 August – 23 November 2025
A roomful of industrial-scale beams folded into unexpected and compelling new forms.
In the crisp white cube of a gallery space, new structures emerge. Powder-coated aluminium beams are folded into strange new shapes, until their factory-finished uniformity gives way to something unexpected: fleeting, imperfect glimpses of the natural world. Abandoning the monumental for something more open-ended, renowned Aotearoa New Zealand artist Peter Robinson (Kāi Tahu) plays with line, form and shadow to construct a spectacular, supersized installation that visitors can walk past, around and through.
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Location:
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū W A Sutton Gallery -
Curator:
Felicity Milburn -
Exhibition number:
1185 -
Developed by
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Commentary
Peter Robinson
Physically imposing yet also vaguely laughable, the burnt- wood-veneer aluminium works in this exhibition call back to Robinson’s previous engagements with obstinately artificial materials, such as polystyrene and felt. However, compared to the almost histrionic theatricality of some older works, these “charcoal drawings” are comically dour, although it would be a mistake to interpret this faux-minimalist posture as purely ironic.
Commentary
Peter Robinson
Te kaiora āhuatanga ōkiko engari anō te hākirikiri katakata, ko ngā mahi konumohe papaangi – wahie – tahuna ki roto i tēnei whakaaturanga he mea karanga whakahoki ki ngā whakapāpātanga ki mua a Robinson ki ngā rawa tāwhaiwhai ngana pērā i te kōmama me te whītau. Engari kia whakaritea ki te tērā pea whakameremere hītōria o ētahi mahi tawhito ake, ko ēnei “tuhinga waro” he pukuhohe mōkinokino, ahakoa ka hē pea kia whakamāori i tēnei tū whakapū – whakatapeha hei pāraharaha tūturu.