ROBERT LOOKER

“My paintings are metaphorical desire paths of life.”

Robert was born in 1956 in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand and grew up in the suburbs of west Auckland.

From an early age, Robert had a passion to draw, to paint, and to become a full-time artist.

However, upon leaving high school, Robert was encouraged by family to “get a proper job”, and so began a long career in advertising, which eventually saw him move to Sydney where he lived and worked until 2015, when Robert retired from advertising and returned to Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Robert is now a full-time painter and part-time sculptor. His preferred medium is oil paint, and his preferred subjects are the landscape, the human figure and portraiture. Home and belonging have become central themes in Robert’s paintings, as he combines plein air observation and memory to capture both quietly reflective and strongly visceral work. Robert explains:

“My work is a diverse depiction of memories and experiences. When I reflect on a memory, which by nature is abstract, I will dance between spontaneous conscious and intuitive subconscious mark making.”

Robert’s diverse techniques include painting ‘alla prima’, where a work is completed in one session, using wet-on-wet layers of paint mixed directly on the canvas; to automatism – the avoidance of conscious intention; to ‘grattage’, a process of scratching away the paint; to using mixed media.

Predominantly self-taught, Robert has attended Painting Master Classes by Roger Crawford and workshops by Lucy Culliton, David Fairbain, Barbie Kjar and Euan McLeod at National Art School, Sydney.

Robert has exhibited in Auckland and Sydney and has been a finalist in Australian and New Zealand art prizes.  Robert’s work is in private collections throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, UK, and Seychelles.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2025     Home and Country with Danielle Adams & Karen Vernon, Mangawhai Artists Gallery
2024 Finalist – Kaipara Art Awards, Mangawhai Artists Gallery
2024 Finalist – Kumeu Art Awards, Kumeu Arts Gallery
2023 Finalist – Kumeu Art Awards, Kumeu Arts Gallery
2023 Home Ground, with Kim Logue, Mangawhai Artists Gallery
2023 Earth Songs, with Linda Gilbert, Mangawhai Artists Gallery
2019 Home Coming, ARTHAUS, Auckland, – Solo exhibition
2018    Play – Allpress Studio Gallery, Auckland
2014    Artists of Mosman: 2088, Mosman Art Gallery
2013     Artists of Mosman: 2088, Mosman Art Gallery
2010     Finalist – North Sydney Art Prize
2009    Finalist – I Love Kirribilli Art Prize
2009    Angel Restaurant & Gallery, Queenscliff – Solo Exhibition
2009    Artists of Mosman: 2088, Mosman Art Gallery
2009    Keeping Company 2009, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Biennial Exhibition
2008    Artists of Mosman: 2088, Mosman Art Gallery
2008    Changeable Art – Moments, North Sydney
2007    Finalist – Northbridge Art Prize, Gallery 307, Northbridge
2005    Finalist – Waverley Art Prize, Waverley Art Gallery
2003    Finalist – Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery

STUDIES

2018    Whitecliffe College of Arts, Contemporary Painting with Richard Fahey
2014     NAS, Summer School, Painting Master Class with Roger Crawford
2014     NAS, Painting Master Class (Semester 1 & 2) with Roger Crawford
2013     NAS, Summer School, Painting Master Class with Roger Crawford
2013     NAS, Painting Master Class (Semester 1 & 2) with Roger Crawford
2012     NAS, Large Scale Portraits with David Fairbairn
2012     NAS, Portrait Essentials with Barbie Kjar
2008    NAS, Painting on Cockatoo Island with Euan McLeod
2005    NAS, Painting Master Class with Roger Crawford
2004    NAS, Painting the Figure with Lucy Culliton
2002    Workshop Arts Centre, Oil Painting with Tania Castaing

STAY IN TOUCH

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