About

Biography

Melvyn Robinson, a multi-talented artist, musician, and educator, was born in the market town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, in 1933. His journey into the world of art began at Barnsley College of Art in 1950, and he continued to cultivate his skills at Manchester College of Art in 1955. Robinson's thirst for knowledge led him to Keele University, where he delved into the realms of combined arts and education, sparking a lifelong interest in developing an integrated curriculum.

As an advocate for the fusion of arts and education, Robinson embarked on a career in lecturing, sharing his passion for art at the College of Education in Cheshire, Hackney College in London, and the prestigious London Institute. Beyond the confines of academia, he extended his influence by teaching art and music across various schools in London, leaving a lasting mark on the
creative minds he encountered.

In 1978, Robinson showcased his artistic prowess with his first solo exhibition at the Acme Gallery in Covent Garden, London. This was followed by numerous solo exhibitions at prominent venues, such as the Cooper Art Gallery in Barnsley, The Air Gallery in London, The Mile End Art Pavilion in London, and The Gallery in Cadaqués, Spain.

In addition to his solo shows, Robinson actively participated in group exhibitions, notably with the Whitechapel Community Arts across East London. His dedication to arts education shone through as he engaged in gallery education, fostering creativity and appreciation within the community. Regular open studios at the Acme Studios in London provided a platform for Robinson to connect with his audience, leading to a number of private commissions.

The walls of galleries, including the Mall Galleries, Bankside Gallery, Hackney Museum, the Brick Lane Gallery, and Candid Arts, bore witness to Robinson's impactful body of work. His diverse paintings were often accompanied by original poetry and music, which captivated audiences and left an enduring legacy.

Beyond the canvas, Robinson's pursuits extended into the realm of music. A skilled musician, he lent his talents to the 'Band of the Royal Corps of Signals' and well-known jazz bands, such as 'The Temperance Seven', and 'The Bill Posters Will Be Band'. His involvement in theatre productions, such as 'The Docks and Woyzeck' at the Old Half Moon Theatre, and 'Pal Joey', 'Mahagonny', and 'Dreamer' at the New Half Moon Theatre in London, showcased his versatility. He also worked at the Mermaid Theatre in London, in a production of 'Trafford Tanzi'. Notably, Robinson took on the role of composer in the production of 'Dreamer', which was the inspiration for one of his later paintings and demonstrated his commitment to combined arts.

Whether wielding a paintbrush or a musical instrument, Melvyn Robinson's creative journey traversed the boundaries of art, education, and performance, leaving an indelible mark on the cultural tapestry of his time.

Introduction

Across the transformative decades spanning from the 1950s to the early 2010s, the artistic journey of Melvyn Robinson has been a fascinating exploration of seemingly disparate themes, each thread carefully woven with the belief that they would ultimately come together to form an integrated whole. Robinson's exploration of themes such as domicile, displacement, depersonalisation, dichotomies, and direction, led him to discern patterns and connections that transcended individual pieces, prompting him to classify his work into five distinct, interrelated categories. Together, these five distinct categories form the nucleus of Robinson’s creative universe:

I. Representation: Mimesis
The works in this category imitate reality in a series of predominantly art school sketches from the artist's home town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

II. Analysis: Structure
In this category, previous representational works are revisited and reworked in a form of structural or geometric reduction.

III. Forms: Geometry
The works in this category explore the two-dimensional possibilities in some regular geometric tessellations.

IV. Phenomena: Ambiguities
In this category, a new dimension is created within the geometric tessellations; that of ambiguous phenomena as well as three-dimensional perspectives.

V. Transformations: Transcendence
The previous two categories are developed to create works where a kind of transcendental representation emerges from the geometric abstraction. Thus, the categories come full circle.

Robinson believed that these themes emerged in his work almost by happenstance but also that they parallel some developments in 20th-century philosophy.

To quote Merleau-Ponty in 'Eye and Mind' (1960):
'The effort of modern painting has been directed not so much toward choosing between line and colour or even between figurative depiction and the creation of signs, as it has been toward multiplying the systems of equivalences . . .'