September at the Whistler Contemporary Gallery (WCG) kicks off with a presentation by acclaimed sculptor David Robinson.
Not to be confused with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer of the same name, Robinson was born in Toronto. He graduated with honours from the Ontario College of Art (now known as OCAD University) and now lives in Vancouver. His exhibitions have made the rounds from Houston, Texas to Palm Desert, Calif.
Robinson incorporates a variety of materials into his repertoire, from steel to paper. He employs a 3D pen for preparatory studies and maquettes, as well as other plastic-adjacent substances like thermal resin or wax. Larger projects are built from water-based and oil-based clays.
"The key for me, whatever the medium, is in its relative impertinence toward one’s best-laid plans," explains Robinson in an interview with WCG. "There is a wisdom inherent to the material—whether it be paper, bronze, steel, silver or glass—that will guide and refine the work so long as the artist can be persuaded to get out of the way.
"Within that variety of media, I try to optimize in favour of this prized and core credo: namely that the work has better ideas than I do."
'Something greater than my own genius'
During his youth, Robinson grew up in a faith-based home where ideas of calling, transcendence and a meaningful universe that he labels "archaic" were often entertained. Such worldviews inevitably guided him onto the path of an artist, which he generates epiphanies on a regular basis in his life.
However, painting and drawing were never enough for the Torontonian. He felt limited by the nature of the two-dimensional plane, which seemed to him like the backdrop for a mapmaker's schematic labours. Instead, Robinson fell in love with sculpting and the fact that formless clay yields unlimited potential when molded by creative hands.
A myriad of factors influence Robinson's work. Even seemingly innocuous things like seasonal temperatures and relative humidity can affect his materials, which in turn impacts his process.
"Contrary to current fashion, I am keen to advance the idea that the artist is better conceived as a servant of the work than as its master," Robinson says. "If I am so simple as to admit that there is something about the clay on a given day…then I am attuning to something greater than my own 'genius' in the finished work."
'Beauty needs defending'
For a deep-thinking and philosophically-minded artist like Robinson, few places are more worthwhile than the Sea to Sky corridor.
"Whistler is perched at the edge of a landscape that just resists by sheer enormity the categorical impositions of humankind," he expresses. "Here we glimpse an awe-inspiring terrain whose beauty [is powerful], yet reminds us that beauty needs defending. An ancient mountain range whose staggering endurance amid eons yet inclines us to consider our footing in the moment."
While he didn't give away too much about his upcoming talk, Robinson promised to discuss pieces currently on display at the WCG: such as Mainstay, Faultline and more locally-inspired works like Apex and Foothold.
Robinson's sculptures frequently embody an interaction between related yet opposing themes. It's a dynamic that he's always found delightful.
"There are paired opposites throughout the human condition, each acting as the matrix to the other: necessity and will, constraint and freedom, relinquishment and defiance," expresses Robinson. "The sculptor’s palette is not that of hue and shade; rather it consists of figure and ground, tension and compression, mass and poise.
"Absent the sheen of the merely sleek, the pleasantly polished and other enticements to the acquisitive gaze, my spare compositions are instead a stoic idiom of figures afoot and striving for dignity and poise amid a grappling ontology."
Fans of Robinson can look ahead to later this year, when a bronze and stainless steel monument of his design will be installed in Jerusalem. Another major commission titled Depth of Field is slated to grace Burnaby in 2025 as well.
Before then, swing by the local Four Seasons Hotel on Sept. 1 to catch Robinson's meet-and-greet. A cocktail reception will open the night at 4 p.m. before the sculptor discusses his work and fields audience queries at 5 p.m. View more details about the event at https://whistlerart.com/show/whistler-contemporary-gallery-david-robinson-in-whistler.
