Tom Robinson (b.1979) is a painter living and working in Norfolk, England. He attended Byam Shaw (2003) and The Royal Drawing School (2006) and was shortlisted for the Gilchrist Fisher Award (2010) and the Contemporary British Painting Prize (2021). He is represented by Messums London (since 2021), where he has had three solo shows. Recent group shows include Messums London, Blue Shop Gallery, OHSH Central and Asylum Studios.
Robinson describes his work as ‘reaching for something beyond the surface: the meta image’. His process is rooted in an intuitive approach in which formal elements are manipulated until an image emerges, hovering between stability and the possibility of a further realisation. It is an instinctive yet considered way of working. The paintings start from an inchoate impulse to use a particular colour, movement or tone and, through the process of adding and subtracting, go on to establish a structure and logic of colour. Robinson places great importance in taking colour off the surface, as well as in applying paint. His understanding of colour is subtle and often surprising. The forms move against each other: coming forwards and receding to create space, and giving the surfaces a three-dimensionality akin to relief sculpture. His paintings often feel compact, elevating rather than mitigating the tension and visceral energy of the fluid, moving paint. One is left with the impression of complex, rhythmic planes of colour that generate light. Robinson’s influences are myriad and eclectic and include literary and musical sources as well as the plastic arts. He first found the Greek and Assyrian reliefs in the British Museum as a student in London, igniting an interest that has shaped his understanding of rhythm and surface since. The overlapping forms and the particular perspective found in classical relief panels are tangible markers central to his paintings.
'RISING (AND FALLING)'
Tom Robinson’s latest show ‘Rising (and falling)’ continues the artist’s longstanding fascination with paintings as visceral, bodily experiences. Robinson emphasises our experience of the fundamental components of painting – colour and shape – as individual forces. To look at his paintings is to experience the lively relation between each of these component forces, as, in the artist’s words, they ‘jump, run and slide’ into each other to amount to something vibrant and animated, at once harmonious and dissonant.
“‘Rising (and falling)’ are the words used on the radio to describe unpredictable sea states following changes in weather conditions, and the effect of barometric pressure. Lots of things cause paintings to change.” The show title alludes to the unpredictable nature of the creative process. Like the sea, a painting can be subject to shifts in direction and influenced by both internal and external forces. Robinson's paintings evoke a sense of both order and chaos, the rational and the irrational.
Robinson’s paintings are built up through a slow and meticulous process, with each mark responding to the previous, resulting in compositions that feel both deliberate and spontaneous. Tom Robinson’s paintings embody the energy and unpredictability of the natural world. In this new work, Robinson’s approach has become more linear. Horizontal and vertical lines traverse each painting, acting as a bridge between different spaces. Robinson selects the line for its ability to “join things together at speed”: as a viewer each line leads our eye rapidly over the painting’s topography, resulting in a lively and constantly interactive viewing experience. As Robinson explains, “I’ve become really interested in movement, and the different sorts of jumps, runs and slides that can happen in a painting, how things transition.” This sense of fluidity and transition is evident in the works, where colours and shapes seem to dance and interact with one another, creating a sense of energy and balance. These paintings are architectural in their construction, with layers of paint building up to create complex and visually rich surfaces. Robinson’s masterful handling of paint transforms the canvas into a dynamic and immersive space.
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