Onespace is very excited to present our latest exhibition by nationally acclaimed artist Brian Robinson titled Elixir – blended cosmologies. The exhibition comprises a selection of recent linocuts, and etchings, in addition to a major work – a four-metre wall sculpture, Containment of the seven seas. Elixir – blended cosmologies is presented in association with Mossenson Galleries (Subiaco).
Robinson is a highly celebrated Indigenous artist of his generation, and a leader in his field within his community and throughout Australia. In recent years, he has moved further afield, building a strong, international reputation.
His innovative art practice combines a unique blend of organic and man-made reference materials, while embracing popular culture and the historical concerns of his traditional art. His work is also informed by his Torres Strait Islander heritage and familial experience.
Robinson, says: ‘My creations are seemingly incongruous concoctions where motifs and characters are co-opted into the spirit world of the Islander imagination, which are then intertwined with historical narrative, personal history and humour.’
Robinson’s work is best known for its blended cosmologies – Zenadh Kes, the western Age of Enlightenment, the Renaissance, Marvel Comics and the Disney franchises. Each is its own filter on the world, which he handles confidently and sensitively. These filters are layered in intellectual consideration but are fully realised as an integrated planar whole. From diverse sources, Robinson creates one artistic lens that makes sense of a spectacular and fantastical world, or coexistence of ‘worlds’, that intermingle in both vision and messages. This is Robinson’s ‘elixir’ of life, or more specifically ‘artistic life’.