ANN ROBINSON

Unite Series #2 - Earth and Sky (Pale Aqua / Lagoon) (2014)

cast glass, size (h x ø): 170 x 545 mm

Fern Vase (Spore) (2014)

cast glass, size: 508 x 340 x 335 mm

Geometric Vase #8 (Dark Red) (2012) cast glass, size: 365 x 277 x 275 mm

Fern Vase (Capense) (2014)

cast glass, size: 508 x 335 x 335 mm

Landscape Bowl (Yellow / Amber) (2014)

cast glass, size: 420 x 452 x 260 mm

Unite Series #4 (Pale Lime / Jade) (2014)

cast glass, size (h x ø): 155 x 550 mm

Flax Vase #10 (Pale Lime / Yellow) (2014)

cast glass, size (h x ø): 595 x 170 mm

Ice Bowl #93 (Sapphire Rose) (2014) cast glass, size (h x ø): 207 x 370 mm

Fern Vase #3 (Dark Olive Green) (2014) cast glass, size: 522 x 340 x 340 mm

Unite Series #5 (Citrine / Chardonnay) (2014)

cast glass, size (h x ø): 158 x 540 mm

Scallop Bowl #57 (Yellow / Amber) (2014) cast glass, size (h x ø): 250 x 385 mm

Curved Vase #2 (Semillon) (2014) cast glass, size: 533 x 340 x 345 mm

Acknowledged as one of the great glass artists of the world, Ann Robinson’s critical acclaim and prominence has been as much due to her ceaseless enquiry of form and materials as it has been her forging the symbolic and metaphorical language of her work in environmental concern, directly informed by the native flora and fauna of NZ.

Earth and Sky contains two major new bodies of work, new forms and techniques. It is an exhibition of considerable significance.

The Unite Series is a triumphant declaration of imperious design and supremacy of form. The top and bottom of each work have been cast separately and then joined together. As a direct consequence of this new technique Robinson has been able to explore and harness the role of the enclosed returning space and surfaces in ways never before possible.

Unite Series #2 features two distinctly different colours – pale aqua and lagoon green – separated by a clear glass insert. This extraordinary, very beautiful bowl, with a narrow outer lip and a rim foot, has a soft sensuous presence where the colours seemingly blur in space, as if hovering just beyond the surface.

Unite Series #4 features two chromatically linked colours – pale lime and pale jade. Interposed between is a rolled rim insert of clear glass, the slightly proud edge of which glistens and shines. There are four tonally different banded circles moving from the centre outward. Optical rhythms are built by the differing glass mass. In some viewing positions, a constituent yellow appears as a thin circle line at the juncture of the altering densities.

Unite Series #5 also combines two linked colours – citrine and chardonnay. The base is rich, strongly suggestive of soil or clay pigment. The work is noticeably more grounded by this but the top is also markedly different, somewhat drier in character. There is an ambiguous role performed by light in these colours – seemingly trapped and contained but sharply defined and illuminating from within.

Fern Vase # 3 has distinctly different sides. The surface of each leaf has been brightly polished, the form abstracted and raised above the combed surface of the vase. The result is remarkable – spatial depth is suggested through the leaves but denied elsewhere by the vase itself.

Fern Vase (Spore) also dark olive green is assertively naturalistic with the polished fern leaves presented as a branch raised off the surface and rising up the slowly flaring form of the vase.

The pale yellow and pale green Fern Vase (Capense) has been completely acid-etched and as a result light is trapped inside the vase by the seemingly dulled surface. This fine figurative work is strongly suggestive of the modulating light glimpsed in a garden and the complex sensations experienced in the light at the bush edge.

The classic Robinson Ice Bowl # 93 features for the first time the soft delicacies of saffire rose, a recessive, complex colour that seems to flux and wane.

This important exhibition also includes a superb semillon Curved Vase, two signature works - the replete, pale lime and yellow Flax Vase #10 and the resolute yellow amber Landscape Bowl – and is completed with a rich dark red Geometric Vase. This is an exceptional expressive work that builds a powerful sensation of infinity, where the role of glass mass has been elevated and determines what we see and how we see it.

ANN ROBINSON

b. 1944, lives Auckland

FernVase2(2014)

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)

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

EDUCATION

ANN ROBINSON

b. 1944, lives Auckland

1980 DipFA, University of Auckland

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2014 Earth & Sky, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2013 BRIM, FHE Galleries, Auckland

Capital, Page Blackie Gallery

2012 The Thick and Thin of It, milford galleries queenstown

2010 Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown

Abundance, FHE Galleries, Auckland

2009 Celebrating the Recession, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2008 Divaricate, FHE Galleries, Auckland

A Trans Tasman Sampler, Axia Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia

2006 Ann Robinson, R Duane Reed, ST Louis, Missouri, USA

2005 A Sombre Take, FHE G2 Galleries, Auckland

2002-03 Pacific Rim: Ann Robinson's Glass, Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington

2001 Ann Robinson: Light from New Zealand, Gallerie Jean Claude Chapellotte, Luxembourg

2000 Old Zeal: New Zeal, Axia Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia

1999 Adrift, Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA

1998 Ann Robinson, Casting Light: A Survey of Glass Castings 1981-1997, Dowse Art Museum

Wellington and New Gallery, Auckland

1997 Tall Poppies, Lopdell House Gallery, Waitakere

A Point in Time, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland

1995 Ann Robinson: A Survey, Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA

1994 Ann Robinson at Masterworks, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland

Galerie L, Hamburg, Germany

From Fantasy to Function V, Kurts Bingham Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

1993 Ann Robinson, Grand opening of Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA

1992 Masterworks Gallery, Parnell, Auckland

1984 Artisan Centre, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2014 Significant Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2013 The Review, milford galleries queenstown

2012 Chosen, milford galleries queenstown

2011 Traverse, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2010 Bloom, milford galleries queenstown

2009 Luminaries, Sabia Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown

2006 111, with Elizabeth McClure and Emily Siddell, FHE Galleries, Auckland

Contemporary Glass, Group Show, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland

2005 Garden Varieties, with Bronwyn Cornish and Fran Allison, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland

Axia Modern Art, Sydney, Australia

Glass Invitational, Milford Galleries Dunedin, Milford Galleries Queenstown, travelling to Auckland Museum, Auckland, Pataka, Petone, and Canterbury Museums, Christchurch

2003-04 Southern Exposure, NZ Soc of Artists in Glass travelling exhibition to Ebeltof, Denmark.

2003 Is As, Landscape as a Metaphor, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2002 Glass Invitational, Touring exhibition, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2001 Transparent Things, National Gallery of Australia in partnership with the Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, Australia

2000 Creativity and Collaboration, Pilchuck Glass School's 30 Years, Bumbershoot 2000 Seattle Centre, Seattle, Washington, USA

1999 New Zealand Glass, Axia Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia

1997 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)

1996 Introductions VII, Lisa Kurts Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Celia Kennedy Gallery, Queenstown

Mastercast, Glass Artist Gallery, Sydney, Australia

SOFA Miami Exposition, Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA

1995 The Vessel Aesthetic, Kavesh Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho, USA

A Powerful Presence: Pilchuck Glass School’s 25 Years, Bumbershoot, Rainier Room at the Seattle Centre, Seattle, Washington, USA

1994 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

1993 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

1992 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

1991 The Executive Suite, Crafts Council Gallery, Wellington

New Zealand Glass Review, Compendium Gallery, Auckland

1990 New Zealand Crafts Council, Wellington

1989-91 Australian Kilnformed Glass, touring the USA; Kurland/Summers Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Heller Gallery, New York; Habatat Gallery, Detroit, USA

1988 Australian Kilnformed Glass, 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

1987 Winstone Biennale, Auckland Museum, Auckland

1986 Phillips Glass Exhibition, Auckland Museum, Auckland

Sunbeam Glassworks, Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, Wellington

1983 Glass ‘83, touring New Zealand

1982 Fragile Art, Northern Regional Crafts Council, touring New Zealand

1981 Glass ‘81, Auckland Society of Arts, Auckland

HONORS, AWARDS, SCHOLARSHIPS, COMMISSIONS, APPOINTMENTS

2009 Installed commissioned Font, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland

2006 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

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, Germany

Saint Paul Companies, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, U.K.

SELECTED ARTICLES

2010 Wood, D, Ann Robinson: Casting Mistress, Neues Glas, Spring 2010 (1/10),pp 32 - 39

2008 Chappell, Dan, Defining Light and Space, Art News, Spring, pp 57-58 (attached)

2003 Simpson Peter (FOA ENG), An Act of Love, Art New Zealand

2001 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