CoCA Toi Moroki Presents Major Exhibition by Peter Robinson

CoCA Toi Moroki Presents Major Solo Exhibition by Peter Robinson

CoCA’s spacious Mair Gallery will be treated in a surprising way by Peter Robinson, one of Aotearoa’s most respected artists, in upcoming solo exhibition Fieldwork (Saturday 3 March – Sunday 13 May).

Delicate and gentle forms will occupy the space which usually holds large and immersive installations, in what is to be a pivotal exhibition for Robinson.

For this exhibition, Robinson has developed a new body of work that will sprawl through CoCA's galleries. Delicate sculptural forms made of everyday artist studio materials – including wood, wire, paper, metal, nails and magnets – contribute to a visual language that will unfold and repeat throughout the space.

The intricate scale of the materials will also highlight the nature of CoCA’s ‘Christchurch Style’ Brutalist architecture. The exhibition coincides with the 50th anniversary of CoCA’s striking 66 Gloucester Street building, which was designed by Minson, Henning Hansen and Dines and purpose built in 1968.

Fieldwork will demonstrate an extension of Robinson’s ever-changing practice. His more recent works reference the trajectory of modern sculpture, and this exhibition will see the introduction of materials which are relatively new within his practice such as aluminum, metal rods, pipes, magnets, and wire which has been manipulated into various shapes.

The installation is one to be viewed as a whole, though the intricacy of the sum of its parts is worth exploring. It will include a mixture of found and specially sourced materials. Responding to the architecture, whilst experimenting with scale and form. Audiences will be met with a navigation challenge; they will need to move around the delicate suspended grids, and works placed on floor wall and ceiling. This unusual perspective and movement through the space will give viewers a new experience of gallery.

Fieldwork continues the collaboration between CoCA and Paemanu Ngāi Tahu Contemporary Visual Arts that began in 2017 with Paemanu: Nohoaka Toi – Ngāi Tahu Artists in Residence.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of community focussed workshops and events. Beginning with Robinson presenting an artist talk on Saturday 3 March, 1pm, the programme will include a series of youth creative writing workshops hosted by Faultline Poetry Collective, children’s workshops with local artist Janna van Hasselt, a performance and movement workshop by dancer Julia Harvie, and a collaboration with Ōtautahi Creative Spaces.

Exhibition opens Saturday 3 March. Admission Free. Visit coca.org.nz for further information.

ENDS

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