Robbie Fraser
Focus Fever

Painter Robbie Fraser is immersed in a focused and at times feverish exploration of the poetic and political potential of hard-edged geometric abstraction. Fraser (Ngati Porou ki Hauraki) energises this legacy with contemporary flair, unusual use of colour, meticulous attention to craft, and offbeat, playful titles. These titles often suggest relationships with the visual language of each painting, yet also complicate and open up their potential interpretations. According to Fraser, recurrent themes in his practice include: things that look and sound like other things, painting as object, the accidental-ly-on-purpose, repetition and recidivism, colour and its extracurricular activities, and the relationship between exactitude, rectitude and attitude. 

Fraser graduated with a Master of Visual Arts degree (First Class Honours) from AUT in 2013, and was a founding member of FERARI, an ex-artist-run space in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland (2012-14). His recent exhibition highlights include Selected Works at Northart (2023), SNO 146 at Sydney Non Objective (2018), Rematerialised (curated by Noel Ivanoff) at DEMO (2017), Painting: A Transitive Space (curated by Simon McIntyre) at St Paul Street Gallery (2016), and A Standard of Measurement (with Hugo Koha Lindsay) at Papakura Art Gallery (2016). Fraser appeared in Two Rooms’ recent group exhibition Core Sample (2023). Focus Fever is the artist’s first solo show with the gallery.

Photo credit: Paul Chapman