Ro Robertson
Ro Robertson (they/them) (b. Sunderland 1984) is a contemporary artist based in West Cornwall. Robertson’s practice spans sculpture, drawing, painting and video, mediums through which they explore the boundaries of the human body and its environment.
Robertson works site specifically, often outdoors, with a multi-sensory focus on the body in the landscape. Unity between the material of the natural landscape and the body reclaims a space for LGBTQ+ identity against a history of being deemed ‘against nature’. Physical explorations of the natural landscape feed into ‘automatic’ abstract drawings and short mediative video works. Robertson’s large-scale sculptures embed the fluidity of this cyclical practice into rigid and industrial materials such as Corten steel and marine paint, materials that bridge their family heritage of ship building and their sculptural practice.
Modern Thresholds: Ro Robertson, a site-responsive display of drawing and sculpture is currently on view at Tate St Ives until December 2025. Robertson’s public sculpture Drench, inspired by the energy of the tidal zone, was exhibited in Regent’s Park, London as part of Frieze Sculpture 2022 and is now on view at the Sainsbury Centre’s Sculpture Park. Robertson’s first public sculpture Stone (Butch) was installed at London’s iconic Gherkin skyscraper 2021-22, commissioned for the 10th edition of ‘Sculpture in the City’. Stone (Butch) is now installed at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, where is it part of the permanent collection. Past solo presentations include Torsos, Maximillian William, London and Subterrane, Maximillian William, London. Past group exhibitions include WINK WINK at Whitaker Museum & Art Gallery, Rossendale; We Are Floating In Space, Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange, Newlyn / Penzance; TRICKSTER FIGURES: sculpture and the body curated by Jes Fernie at MK Gallery, Milton Keynes; Behind abstract forms, Fragment, New York; On Queer Ground, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield; Seen, Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange; Into Abstraction, The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield and Exploratory Drawings, Maximillian William, London. Works by Robertson are also held in the collection of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, The Hepworth Wakefield and Leeds Museums & Galleries (Leeds Art Gallery). Robertson is currently participating in a group presentation at The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York curated by Gemma Rolls-Bentley. In early 2024, Wakefield Council will unveil a newly commissioned monumental, site-specific work by Ro Robertson following four public sculpture commissions in Wakefield city by leading British artists.
SELECTED WORKS
Ro Robertson, 'Porth I', 2023; Gouache paint, watercolour pencil, graphite, sand and binder on paper 200 x 140 cm; Photography: Deniz Güzel;
Ro Robertson, 'Porth II', 2023; Gouache paint, watercolour pencil, graphite, sand and binder on paper 200 x 140 cm; Photography: Deniz Güzel;
Ro Robertson, 'Interlude I', 2023; Corten Steel, marine paint, found blue rope; 320 x 400 x 400 cm; Photography: Deniz Güzel;
Ro Robertson 'Torso II', 2021; Corten steel, jesmonite, paint and found objects (white vest, white sports socks, seaweed, mulch and rocks); 160 x 140 x 140 cm;
Ro Robertson, 'Drench', 2022; Painted Corten Steel; 320 x 400 x 400 cm; Photography: Jack Hems;
Ro Robertson 'Torso III', 2022; Corten steel, oil paint, and found objects (white vest, white boxer shorts and rock); 69 x 169 x 108 cm;
Ro Robertson, 'Torso (my cotton, filled with cold steel),' 2021; Corten steel, jesmonite, paint and found objects (white vest, blue shorts, sports socks, mulch, box of matches); 150 x 175 x 80 cm; Edition of 3 (#1/3); Photography: Jack Hems;
Ro Robertson, 'Island (anchored by mud),' 2021; Gouache, charcoal, graphite, pastel, sandstone, red mud and binder on board; 155.9 x 66.2 x 6 cm; Photography: Jack Hems;
Ro Robertson, 'Island (departing),' 2021; Gouache, charcoal, graphite, pastel, sandstone, red mud and binder on board 155.9 x 66.2 x 6 cm; Photography: Jack Hems;
Ro Robertson, 'Stone (Butch),' 2021, Corten steel, jesmonite and paint, 220 x 130 x 156 cm; Image courtesy Sculpture in the City; Photography: Nick Turpin;
Ro Robertson, 'Between Two Bodies,' 2020, Jesmonite, pigment and steel rebar; Collection: The Hepworth Wakefield; Image courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield; Photography: Nick Singleton;
Ro Robertson, 'The Island,' Gouache, charcoal, graphite, oil and plaster dust, 87 x 122 cm; Collection: The Hepworth Wakefield; Image courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield; Photography: Nick Singleton;
Installation view, 'Stone Butch,' The Hepworth Wakefield, 2019; Image courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield; Photography: Lewis Ronald;
Ro Robertson, 'Pissing,' Performance for camera, single channel video (looped) with sound; Image courtesy the artist;
Installation view, 'Stone Butch,' The Hepworth Wakefield, 2019; Image courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield; Photography: Lewis Ronald;
Ro Robertson, 'Packing,' 2020, Photographic image from performance for camera; Image courtesy the artist;
Ro Robertson, 'Packing,' 2020, Photographic image from performance for camera; Image courtesy the artist;
Ro Robertson, 'Stonebodywater,' 2019, Photographic image from performance for camera single channel video, 1 minute (looped) with sound; Image courtesy the artist;
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