Iain Robertson’s abstract paintings feature a developed visual language including circles, triangles and crosses, interspersed with gestural marks, pouring and drips, which are layered over one another. Often seeming to jostle for space, these forms - combined with strong colour relationships - come together to create dynamic compositions. The curator and writer Bill Hare has described his work as ‘truly democratic… each individual work an integral part of a gregarious community’*.
Robertson also works in other mediums including printmaking, collaborative film and digital projects, inviting audience engagement and enriching his practice through events, research, and teaching. Referencing contemporary culture, music and musical memory is a constant source of inspiration to Robertson; particularly jazz with its improvisational quality; many of his works - including the vibrant screenprints that were made in collaboration with Kip Gresham at the studio in 2013 - take their titles from pieces of music.
Robertson has exhibited widely in the UK and beyond including at the Tate Gallery, St Ives and the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh. He has been the recipient of a number of awards including the British Council, the Arts Council and the Pollock Krasner Foundation, New York. He works in Porthmeor Studios, St. Ives, Cornwall.
* Hare, Bill. 2006 ‘Silent Pictures – Talking Painting’. Fifty at Fifty [exhibition catalogue], Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall, p.2-3
