Clan groups: Maluyligal and Wuthathi (Torres Strait), Dayak (Malaysia)
Language group: Kal Lagaw Ya
Brian Robinson was born in 1973 in Waiben (Thursday Island), in the Torres Strait. He lives and works in Cairns, Queensland.
Brian is an established artist who is nationally and internationally recognised for his printmaking and public sculptures which draw on mythology and popular culture across different cultures. In his works, objects and themes from Torres Strait Islander myths are juxtaposed against well-known mainstream narratives and legends such as Noah’s Ark and the great floods, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Adam and Eve.
Brian has exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas since the mid-1990s. His work is represented in many national and international public and private collections, and he has undertaken numerous national and international residencies and public art commissions.
He is represented by Onespace Gallery, Brisbane.
Brian Robinson: Pacific crosscurrents
9 Jul – 7 Sep 2016
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ARTNOW FNQ 2022
17 Dec 2022 – 12 Feb 2023
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FACELESS Transforming Identity: Blak/Black Artists from North Australia, Africa and the African Diaspora
25 Jun – 2 Oct 2022
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Ritual: the past in the present
15 May – 21 Aug 2021
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Reimagining: Between Tradition and Innovation
17 Oct 2020 – 10 Jan 2021
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Brian Robinson, Land Sea Sky - charting our place in the universe, 2006, linocut, ed. 1/10, linocut mounted on hardboard,
Purchased Cairns Regional Gallery with funds from Leigh Heidenreich and Peters Bosel Lawyers through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, 2016
Brian Robinson, A curious bunch of bits and bobs - Oceanic artefacts at the Australian Museum, 2016, etching on paper, Purchased by Cairns Regional Gallery, 2016
Brian Robinson, Usal - the seven sisters that play amongst the stars, 2016, linocut printed on paper and mounted to board, pine dowel, rattan, shells, raffia, twine, feathers, plastic beads, plastic skull, Purchased Cairns Regional Gallery with funds from Rosemary Goodsall through the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation, 2016
ARTNOW FNQ 2015
27 Nov 2015 – 7 Feb 2016
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Brian Robinson, Scylla Serrata aka Githalai, 2015, pvc plastic, enamel spray paint, feathers, raffia, shells, courtesy of the artist
Out of Queensland:
New Indigenous Textiles
17 Jul – 13 Sep 2015
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Brian Robinson, ... the blooms continue to flourish, 2015, custom-printed linen, Commissioned by Cairns Regional Gallery, 2015
Malu Minar: Art of the Torres Strait
2 Apr – 22 May 2011
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Brian Robinson, Tagai - Guardian of the heavens, 2007, linocut, Gift of Robina Cosser, 2007
Ilan Pasin: This is our way
6 Nov 1998 – 31 Jan 1999
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The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased persons in photographs, film or text.