ANN ROBINSON

ANN ROBINSON THE THICK AND THIN OF IT A p r i l 6 th - M a y 2 nd, 2 0 1 2

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

milford galleries queenstown 9A Earl Street

Tel (03) 442 6896

qtown@milfordgalleries.co.nz

1. Geometric Vase #5 (Chardonnay) (2011), cast glass, size (v x h x d): 372 x 268 x 277 mm

2. Curved Vase (Bronze) (2011), cast glass, size (v x h x d): 480 x 360 x 325 mm

3. Side Carved Flax Pod (Red) (2010), cast glass, size (v x h x d): 335 x 365 x 245 mm

4. Curved Vase (Lime) (2011), cast glass, size (v x h x d): 525 x 355 x 333 mm

5. Twisted Flax Pods #48 & #49 (2012) cast glass, cast aluminium, pod #48 (v x h x d): 110 x 1320 x 300 mm, pod #49 (v x h x d): 95 x 1110 x 470 mm

6. Geometric Vase #2 (Grey) (2011), cast glass, size (v x h x d): 350 x 265 x 265 mm

7. Curved Vase (Semillon) (2011), cast glass, size (v x h x d): 515 x 360 x 330 mm

8. Landscape Bowl (Green) (2012) cast glass, etched pattern, size (v x h x d): 420 x 530 x 260 mm

9. Geometric Vase (Rhubarb) (2011) cast glass, etched pattern, size (v x h x d): 372 x 267 x 267 mm

9. Geometric Vase (Rh

colour transition of Rhubarb glass from

hubarb) (2011) incandescent to fluorescent light

10. Curved Vase (Pale Jade) (2012), cast glass, size (v x h x d): 512 x 325 x 353 mm

11. Curved Square Vase (2011), cast glass, size (v x h x d): 350 x 269 x 269 mm

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

1

Geometric Vase #5 (Chardonnay) (2011)

28,000

2

Curved Vase (Bronze) (2011)

28,000

3

Side Carved Flax Pod (Red) (2010)

27,000

4

Curved Vase (Lime) (2011)

29,000

5

Twisted Flax Pods #48 & #49 (2012)

6

Geometric Vase #2 (Grey) (2011)

28,000

7

Curved Vase (Semillon) (2011)

29,000

8

Landscape Bowl (Green) (2012)

9

Geometric Vase (Rhubarb) (2011)

29,000

10

Curved Vase (Pale Jade) (2012)

29,000

11

Curved Square Vase (2011)

28,000

POA

POA

All prices are NZD and include GST; Prices are current at the time of the exhibition

Ann Robinson’s exhibition “The Thick and Thin of It” is dominated by two new forms and features an important new development in her work.

The Geometric Vases sit within Robinson’s well-known, acclaimed, signature trademarks of imperious design and supreme form. What sets these apart from all that has gone before – even when the lineage is obviously sequential in nature – is that the role of glass mass (being dramatically thicker than all other previous works) has been elevated to being one of the primary factors in what we see and how we see it.

The top of these works have been polished, the sides acid etched. Light enters through the top and is then trapped as it moves about and engages the interior space. Colour coalesces and then breaks into the constituent components. Variable modulating tones develop, the internal space of the vase hovers in suspension as if independent of all else. The top seems to recede and come forward at the same time - a powerful sensation of infinity is established. At the edges – where the forms become thin, as they alter direction – light flares as if being squeezed out.

The form and design qualities of the Geometric Vases are determined by the interplay of three squares: one at the base, two at the top. Robinson connects these with curved rising edges and in this way the vase flares up and fattens out almost imperceptibly. A recessed leaf sits into the spine of the rising edges. This subtle, under-stated, naturalistic motif connects the work (and viewer) back to the fundamental impulse to all of Robinson’s works, the botanical rhythms of the natural environment.

Additional height has been introduced to the Curved Vases and the resulting gain of sculptural stature is real and very significant. The Curved Vases have acquired an aspirational quality with this extra height - the eye journeys up in

an energy flow before then emerging out and going back down, thus becoming cyclical in nature as the process commences again. The palettes of the Curved Vases are soft and delicate, the form flares up and (depending on which side is being viewed) then spreads out.

The Curved Vases have a decidedly and surprisingly ambiguous nature because of these substantially different shapes and forms being revealed or hidden. There is also an expressionistic quality to these works where the outer edges darken like an outline drawn, inside which the soft colour waxes and wanes. This tonal density defines the vase in space and yet at the top it fades - becoming indistinct – as it alters into white light. This then is another variable, another consequence, of “The Thick and Thin of It.” The Landscape Bowl is a well-known form of Ann Robinson’s but engraved on its outer skin for the first time is the skeletal form of a lacebark leaf. This forges a dialogue about decay and renewal, with the image acting like a tattoo inscribed into the (metaphorical) surface of the land. There is also a symbiosis between the leaf shape and structural pattern with (when viewed from above) the seed shape of the Landscape Bowl.

The top of a Rhubarb Geometric Vase also features lacebark leaves, bisected by the internal square, floating in suspension and hovering in the infinity of horizontal space.

This important exhibition also includes two magnificent semillon-coloured Twisted Flax Pods and an exquisite, resolute, Red Side-Carved Pod.

ANN ROBINSON b. 1944, lives Auckland

Scallop Bowl (2010)

Ann Robinson is an internationally significant glass artist and an acclaimed innovator who has been at the forefront of the extraordinary achievement of New Zealand glass.

Robinson’s cast glass pieces have a commanding presence. She gathers inspiration from her natural environment incorporating the particular colours and shapes of native flora into her work.

“The Power of Ann Robinson’s work comes from its bold simplicity, its vivid colouring, its controlled forms. She admits to being seduced by the material itself and declares her aim is ‘to make stunning things in glass’.” (1) “Ann Robinson’s work contains the smell and presence of the flora and fauna of the New Zealand bush. Her environmental idiom and examinations of the natural world have established the devotional forms and subject of her work. There is a powerful sense of place, an undeniable presence of the artist’s point of view - art with a purpose and something to say.

Ann Robinson was born in 1944 and lives in Auckland. She has achieved major national and international recognition for her accomplishments in glass. Robinson was awarded the American Glass Society’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2006 and an Arts Laureate by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand in 2004. Recipient 2002 John Britten Award for contribution to New Zealand design. Awarded New Zealand Order of Merit 2001. Robinson is represented in public collections such as Corning Museum (USA), Victoria and Albert Museum (UK) National Gallery of Victoria, (Australia), Stradtmuseum (Germany), Auckland Museum and Te Papa.

1. Dan Klein, Artists in Glass: Late Twentieth Century Masters in Glass, Mitchell Beazley, Great Britain, 2001

Ann Robinson 2012 CV P a g e |1

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

ANN ROBINSON b. 1944, lives Auckland EDUCATION 1980

DipFA, University of Auckland

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2012 2010 2009 2008 2006 2005 2002-03 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1995 1994

1993 1992 1984

The Thick and Thin of It, milford galleries queenstown Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown Abundance, FHE Galleries, Auckland Celebrating the Recession, Milford Galleries Dunedin, Dunedin Divaricate, FHE Galleries, Auckland A Trans Tasman Sampler, Axia Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia Ann Robinson, R Duane Reed, ST Louis, Missouri, USA A Sombre Take, FHE G2 Galleries, Auckland Pacific Rim: Ann Robinson's Glass, Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington Ann Robinson: Light from New Zealand, Gallerie Jean Claude Chapellotte, Luxembourg Old Zeal: New Zeal, Axia Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia Adrift, Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA Ann Robinson, Casting Light: A Survey of Glass Castings 1981-1997, Dowse Art Museum Wellington and New Gallery, Auckland Tall Poppies, Lopdell House Gallery, Waitakere A Point in Time, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland Ann Robinson: A Survey, Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA Ann Robinson at Masterworks, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland Galerie L, Hamburg, Germany From Fantasy to Function V, Kurts Bingham Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee, USA Ann Robinson, Grand opening of Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA Masterworks Gallery, Parnell, Auckland Artisan Centre, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2012 2011 2010 2009 2006 2005

2003-04 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1997

1996

Chosen, milford galleries queenstown Traverse, Milford Galleries Dunedin Bloom, milford galleries queenstown Luminaries, Sabia Gallery, Sydney, Australia Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown 111, with Elizabeth McClure and Emily Siddell, FHE Galleries, Auckland Contemporary Glass, Group Show, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland Garden Varieties, with Bronwyn Cornish and Fran Allison, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland Axia Modern Art, Sydney, Australia Glass Invitational, Milford Galleries Dunedin, Milford Galleries Queenstown, traveling to Auckland Museum, Auckland, Pataka, Petone, and Canterbury Museums, Christchurch Southern Exposure, NZ Soc of Artists in Glass traveling exhibition to Ebeltof, Denmark.

Is As, Landscape as a Metaphor, Milford Galleries Dunedin, Dunedin Glass Invitational, Touring exhibition, Milford Galleries Dunedin, Dunedin Transparent Things, National Gallery of Australia in partnership with the Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, Australia Creativity and Collaboration, Pilchuck Glass School's 30 Years, Bumbershoot 2000 Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington, USA New Zealand Glass, Axia Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia Inaugural Exhibition, John Elder Gallery, New York, USA Art in Glass '97, Editions Gallery, Melbourne, Australia Ledbetter Lusk Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee, USA Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, WA (w/ Frantisek Vizner and Daniel Clayman) Introductions VII, Lisa Kurts Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Ann Robinson 2012 CV P a g e |2

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991 1990 1989-91 1988

1987 1986 1983 1982 1981

Celia Kennedy Gallery, Queenstown Mastercast, Glass Artist Gallery, Sydney, Australia On Form, Lopdell house Gallery, Waitakere SOFA Miami Exposition, Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA The Vessel Aesthetic, Kavesh Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho, USA A Powerful Presence: Pilchuck Glass School’s 25 Years, Bumbershoot, Rainier Room at the Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington, USA Breaking the Mold: New Kilnformed Glass, Heller Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida, USA Glass from the Pacific Rim, Art Department Gallery, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, USA Parriott, Perkins and Robinson, Chicago International New Art Forms Exposition a Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois, USA (Kate Elliott Contemporary Glass) Annual Pilchuck Exhibition, William Traver Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA Pilchuck Glass Exhibition, SeaTac Airport, Seattle, Washington, USA Cribbs, Marioni and Robinson, Chicago International New Art Forms Exposition at Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois, USA (Kate Elliott Contemporary Glass) Contemporary Kilnformed Glass, Contemporary Crafts Centre Portland, Oregon, USA Glass Now ‘92, Tokyo, Japan International Directions in Glass, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia Treasures of the Underworld, Seville, Spain The Executive Suite, Crafts Council Gallery, Wellington New Zealand Glass Review, Compendium Gallery, Auckland New Zealand Crafts Council, Wellington Australian Kilnformed Glass, touring the USA; Kurland/Summers Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Heller Gallery, New York; Habatat Gallery, Detroit, USA Australian Kilnformed Glass, An International Exhibition, Craft Council Gallery of ACT, Australia World Glass Now ‘88, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Hokkaido, Japan Stones in Glass Houses, Villas Gallery, Wellington New Zealand Expo Exposition of Craft, Brisbane, Australia Winstone Biennale, Auckland Museum, Auckland Phillips Glass Exhibition, Auckland Museum, Auckland Sunbeam Glassworks, Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, Wellington Glass ‘83, touring New Zealand Fragile Art, Northern Regional Crafts Council, touring New Zealand Glass ‘81, Auckland Society of Arts, Auckland

HONORS, AWARDS, SCHOLARSHIPS, COMMISSIONS, APPOINTMENTS 2009 2006

Installed commissioned Font, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland Life Time Achievement Award by the Glass Arts Society of America 2006 Waitakere City Arts Laureate Award 2004 2004 Arts Laureate Awarded by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand 2003 Guest speaker Northlands Glass Conference of CGA 2002 Elected recipient of the D.I.N.Z. 'John Britten Award' for contribution to Design 2001 Awarded the Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. ( O.N.Z.M) Guest speaker Conference ‘Transparency in Glass’, Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2000 Faculty; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, USA 1996 Faculty; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, USA 1991 Faculty; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, USA “Treasures from the Underworld,” commission for New Zealand Expo Exhibition, Seville, Spain 1990, 92 93 Guest Faculty; Carrington Polytechnic, Auckland 1990, 92 Guest Faculty; Canberra School of Art, ACT, Australia 1987 Winstone Biennale Award 1986 Phillips Glass Award Travel Grant to USA, Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council 1984 Phillips Glass Award 1983, 84, 91 Equipment Grant, Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council

Ann Robinson 2012 CV P a g e |3

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

COLLECTIONS Auckland Museum, Auckland Bellevue Public Library, Bellevue WA, USA Corning Museum of Glass, Corning NY, USA Dowse Gallery, Lower Hutt Irvin J. Borowsky, Philadelphia, PA Karen Johnson Boyd, Racine, Wisconsin Robert McDougal Gallery, Christchurch Microsoft Corp, Redmond, WA, USA National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington Queensland Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia Stadtmuseum, Gottingen, Gemany Saint Paul Companies, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA Victoria and Albert Museum, London, U.K.

SELECTED ARTICLES 2010 2008 2003 2001

Wood, D, Ann Robinson: Casting Mistress, Neues Glas, Spring 2010 (1/10),pp 32 - 39 Chappell, Dan, Defining Light and Space, Art News, Spring, pp 57-58 (attached) Simpson Peter (FOA ENG), An Act of Love, Art New Zealand Object Lessons,Original Art by Guild Artists, Beauty and Meaning in Art. Guild Publishing, Madison, U.S.A., pp 22 2001 Klein, Dan Artists In Glass: Late Twentieth Century Masters In Glass Mitchell Beazley Millers, Octopus Publishing Group, London, England, pp 197-198.

1999 In Review New Glass Review, Corning Museum of Glass,2/00, pp 104 - 111 1998 Edwards, Geoffrey Art Of Glass, Glass in the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria pg 204 1998 Ann Robinson Casting Light,.A Survey of Glass Castings 1981-1997, Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand 1996 Wichert, Geoffrey, Glass, No 65, Winter, pp. 36-39 1994 Kangas, Matthew, Glass, No 55, Spring, pp 51 1996 Layton, Peter, Glass Art, pp. 64, (illus) pp 65.

1993 New Glass Review, Corning Museum of Glass, pp 92.

1993 Sapolin, Donna, Glass Conscienceness Departures, April/May 1993, pp 76-81, (illus) pp 78 1992 Contemporary Kilnformed Glass, Contemporary Crafts Association, Portland, Oregon; pp 64-65 1992/1 Shamroth, Helen, Glass Art in New Zealand Neues Glass Magazine, pp 40-46 1989 Klein, Dan, Glass: A Contemporary Art Rizzoli; pp 208 1989 Australia Kilnformed Glass; Australia Council for the Arts and Kurland/Summers Gallery; pp. 16-17 1988 World Glass Now '88, Hokkaido Museum, Japan 1988 Ioannou, Norris, Australian Studio Glass, pp 80-92

Landscape Bowl (2009)

Ann Robinson 2012 CV P a g e |4

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz