ABOUT
ROBERT LOOKER
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”. So began a successful advertising career, which eventually saw Robert move to Sydney where he lived and worked until 2015, when he retired from advertising and returned to Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.
Robert is now pursues his first passion as a full-time painter. 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 conscious and 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 Christchurch-born 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
2026 Little Rosie, Parnell – Solo exhibition
2025 Finalist & Crafty Baker Prize Winner – 2025 Emerging Artist Awards, The Upstairs Gallery
2025 Home & 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 Solo exhibition – Home Coming: ARTHAUS Contemporary, Auckland
2018 Play: Allpress Studio Gallery, Auckland
2014 Artists of Mosman: 2088, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
2013 Artists of Mosman: 2088, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
2010 Finalist – North Sydney Art Prize, Sydney
2009 Finalist – I Love Kirribilli Art Prize, Sydney
2009 Solo Exhibition – Angel Restaurant Gallery, Sydney
2009 Artists of Mosman: 2088, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
2009 Keeping Company: Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Biennial Exhibition
2008 Artists of Mosman: 2088, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
2008 Changeable Art Moments: North Sydney
2007 Finalist – Northbridge Art Prize, Gallery 307, Sydney
2005 Finalist – Waverley Art Prize, Waverley Art Gallery, Sydney
2003 Finalist – Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
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
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