BRIAN ROBINSON CUSTODIAN OF THE BLOOMS

INTERPRETIVE GUIDE

TROPICAL SPIRIT

With joyful colour, exuberant form and rich pattern, these fantastic oversize blooms by Brian Robinson delight the eye and heart. Robinson has described the flowers in his creations as symbolic of fertility, abundance, harvest and regeneration.

Across every island in the Torres Strait, flowering and fruiting trees line the streets and surround the communities, growing wild or in garden plots. Hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillea, coconut, beach almond, mango, banana and even wongai, to name a few, bear garlands and fruit year round. Brian Robinson

Robinson grew up on Waiben (Thursday Island) in the Torres Strait with Maluyligal and Wuthathi cultural heritage. He is a multi-skilled contemporary artist, working in diverse media, including printmaking, sculpture and public art. Robinson’s work Custodian of the Blooms has several dimensions: physical, cultural and spiritual and reflects many cultural influences: traditional spirituality; the Catholic faith of his family; classical Western art traditions; and his interest in comic book characters, everyday objects and graffiti art.

In this installation a dynamic mix of materials has been skilfully crafted to create a relief wall sculpture of printed and stencilled 3D forms. There is an interplay between traditional and contemporary cultural motifs and themes. Along with the playfulness, there is sense of magic of a spirit world beyond our reality. Robinson has made an enchanted garden brought to life by the masked figure. Is the Custodian a hero, a warrior, an enchanter?

My creations are seemingly incongruous concoctions where many 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. Brian Robinson

In the arid south we often have a vision of an imagined tropical paradise – vivid colour, myriad shapes, abundant growth. Robinson’s work transports us to a place of imagination. He is a storyteller who brings old and new together and shows us a unique vision of people and place.

RESPONDING

Look closely at Robinson’s work. Describe how this installation makes you feel. What unexpected or unusual materials can you see in this work?

Who is the custodian? What do you think he is looking after?

Why do you think the figure has a mask on? Research the importance of masks in Torres Strait Islander culture.

Robinson has been described as a multi-skilled artist. What ‘making’ skills would he have used to create this work?

Compare the blooms in this work with the representation of plant life in other works in TARNANTHI or at the Art Gallery of South Australia. Write about your discoveries.

MAKING

Make a drawing of your favourite ‘bloom’ from Robinson’s work.

Imagine your own garden filled with fantastic colourful flowers. Use colour to create a work about your garden. You may wish to experiment with some simple stencilling in creating your blooms.

Record some of the patterns you can see in Custodian of the Blooms. Use these as a starting point for your own visual investigation of pattern.

GLOSSARY

3D: works of art that have depth as well as height and width, such as sculpture and installation

installation: mixed-media constructions or assemblages usually designed for a specific place and for a temporary period of time

motif: a recurring subject, theme or idea, especially in a literary, musical or visual work of art

RELATED WORKS IN THE COLLECTION

Julie BLYFIELD, Australia, 1957, Dog Wattle vessel 2007, Gray Street Workshop, Adelaide, blackened copper. http://bit.ly/1VLy254

Kei KALAK, Australia, 1975, Augud 2011, Cairns; printed by Theo Tremblay at Tremblay NFP, Cairns, Queensland, linocut on paper. http://bit.ly/1N63w3P

Vicki MASON, Australia, 1966, Hybrid cluster (black/red) brooch 2007, Melbourne, PVC, polyester thread, sterling silver. http://bit.ly/1G5Oc7v

Ken THAIDAY Snr, Australia, 1950, Hammerhead shark headdress 2002, Cairns, Queensland, plywood, metal, plastic, feathers, glass, string and enamel paint. http://bit.ly/1hx5IFW

BRIAN ROBINSON born 1973, Waiben (Thursday Island), Queensland, Wuthathi and Maluyligal people, Torres Strait Islands

Brian Robinson installing his work. Image courtesy the artist and Mossenson Galleries.

BRIAN ROBINSON CUSTODIAN OF THE BLOOMS Art Gallery of South Australia North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000 Tel 61 8 8207 7000 www.artgallery.sa.gov.au www.tarnanthi.com.au

TARNANTHI | Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art 8 October 2015 – 10 January 2016

Open daily 10am – 5pm, FREE ENTRY

Cover image, detail: Brian Robinson, born 1973, Waiben (Thursday Island), Wuthathi and Maluyligal people, Torres Strait Islands, Custodian of the Blooms, 2014, Cairns, mixed media, 300.0 x 300.0 cm, Image courtesy the artist and Mossenson Galleries. Information and quotes have been derived from the

accompanying TARNANTHI | Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander exhibition catalogue. Information and hyperlinks correct at time of print. Writer: Lindy Neilson Editor: Penelope Curtin Design: Sandra Elms Design Art Gallery of South Australia staff Mimi Crowe, Nici Cumpston, Tracey Dall, Elle Freak, Laura Masters, Ryan Sims and Lisa Slade, and DECD Education Manager Mark Fischer, assisted in the development of this resource.

Warning: Members of Aboriginal communities are respectfully advised that some of the people mentioned in writing or depicted in photographs within this resource have passed away. All such mentions and photographs in this resource are with permission.

Note to the reader: Unless otherwise noted, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander words mentioned in this resource are spelled as advised by the relevant cultural authority. Approval for use of ‘Tarnanthi’ has been granted by Kaurna Warra Pintyanthi.

Presented by TARNANTHI Principal Partner

Supported by

BHP Billiton is proud to be the Principal Partner of TARNANTHI | Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia and supported by the Government of South Australia. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

Education Partner

RESOURCES

Cumpston, Nici 2015, TARNANTHI exhibition catalogue, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. http://bit.ly/1iKlcrd

Martin-Chew, Louise 2015. ‘Brian Robinson – when art and public worlds collide’, CreativeMove (Accessed September 2015). http://bit.ly/1Dak9Kq

Wadman, Ashleigh 2015. ‘Brian Robinson’, Artist Profile: the artist behind the art, Issue 32, Nextmedia, pp 84–88. http://bit.ly/1L3LH62

Mossenson Galleries, ‘Brian Robinson’ (artist profile). http://bit.ly/1iKQYnT

Flinders University Art Museum & City Gallery, ‘Strait Protean: The Art of Brian Robinson’ (media release, 6 May 2015). http://bit.ly/1KRcAGE

Perkins, Hetti 2010, Art + soul: a journey into the world of Aboriginal Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne. http://bit.ly/1KKgnYr Art + Soul study guide. http://bit.ly/1jxOUjN Based on the television series about contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art; a DVD of is also available. http://bit.ly/1O74os0

The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) promotes the knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island cultures, traditions, languages and stories, past and present. http://bit.ly/1KQZVDJ Torres Strait Island flag and culture. http://bit.ly/1JC7P1T