Peter Robinson

Peter Robinson, installation, Sue Crockford Gallery, 2006
(foreground)  Universe,  2001,  fibreglass, synthetic polymer paint
(Floor installation)  Null and Void, 2001, customwood, lacquer
(Wall left) Every Word,  2006, lamda print,
(Wall right) One Lives, 2006, lamda print

As supporters of New Zealand's participation in the Venice Biennale, it is exciting to have these works now in the Chartwell Collection, held at the Auckland Art Gallery, as two of these works, Null and Void and Universe,  were part of Peter Robinson's 2001 Venice installation.

In 2003, the Venice exhibition, called Divine Comedy, was shown at City Gallery, Wellington. It was later partially installed at Sue Crockford Gallery in 2006. In 2003, the City Gallery Wellington notes for the show stated Divine Comedy was created in 2001 when Peter Robinson was artist-in-residence at New Plymouth. The title of the exhibition comes directly from Alighieri Dante's infamous book Divine Comedy. "The installation features a series of sleek sculptures and digital prints based around complex concepts of existence and draws together unlikely points of reference from Alighieri Dante's Inferno to quantum physics and Stephen Hawkings' book A Brief History of Time.

Peter Robinson has fast gained an international reputation. Born in 1966, Robinson became well known in New Zealand in the 1990s for his work that investigated issues of biculturalism and New Zealand race relations. Although Robinson's work no longer explicitly addresses issues of identity or biculturalism, his signature use of traditional Maori colours of red, black and white is still central in his work.

Robinson has been included in significant exhibitions overseas since 1994 including the Asia Pacific Triennale and the Sao Paolo Biennale in 1996, the 1998 Sydney Biennale, the Lyon Biennale in 2000, the Seoul Media City Biennale 2002 and the Centre of Attraction Baltic Triennale 2002. The recipient of the inaugural 2000 Creative New Zealand international residency at the Krhaus Bethanien, Robinson has strong ties to Berlin..."

Robinson has an exhibition at Auckland's Artspace in mid 2006. Check dates on: www.artspace.org.nz