Julia Robinson
Lives and works in Adelaide, South Australia.
Julia Robinson is a South Australian visual artist working in the fields of sculpture and installation. Her work reflects an interest in pre-Christian rituals and calendrical customs relating to fertility and the cycle of the seasons and by extension, cycles of growth and decay.
Looking to her British ancestry as a starting point, Robinson creates objects that sit at the intersection of folklore, ritual and folk horror, a genre currently experiencing a revival through films, literature and music. Recent works employ historical costuming and sewing techniques to examine narratives around fecundity, sex and death and evoke forms in a state of metamorphosis.
Since graduating from Adelaide Central School of Art Julia has exhibited regularly and been the recipient of a number of grants and awards. Recent exhibitions include Monster Theatres: 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art at The Santos Museum of Economic Botany, The National 2019: New Australian Art at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Versus Rodin: Bodies across space and time at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Long Ballads at Ideas Platform Artspace and Sensual Nature at the Fremantle Arts Centre. Julia lectures in the BVA program at Adelaide Central School of Art. Her work is held in the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Artbank, Tamworth Regional Gallery and private collections.
EDUCATION
2002 Bachelor of Visual Art (Honours), Adelaide Central School of Art, South Australia
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Split by the Spade, Adelaide Central Gallery, Adelaide
Sculptural Storytelling, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
2022 The Beckoning Blade, Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide
2017 Long Ballads, Ideas Platform, Artspace, Sydney
2016 The Song of Master John Goodfellow, GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide
Structure for navigating an unknown afterlife, Art Pod, Adelaide
2015 One to rot and one to grow, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia
2013 Pinch wood, Fontanelle Gallery, Adelaide
Some to the stone, Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne
2012 Some to the stone, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Melbourne
2011 Damn your eyes, GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide
Slumber or perish, Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne
2009 The Sound of the Beast, Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne
2008 Here’s to my sweet Satan, Über Gallery, Melbourne
2004 eat, wolf, the Project Space, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Eerie Pageantry, City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand
Old Stories New Magic, Maitland Regional Gallery, NSW
2020 Monster Theatres, 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Museum of Economic Botany
2019 The National 2019: New Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2018 Psychache, Holy Rollers Studios, Adelaide
We, GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide
Sensual Nature, Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth
2017 Versus Rodin: Bodies across space and time, Art Gallery of South Australia
Open House: 3rd Tamworth Textile Triennial, Tamworth Regional Gallery
Guirguis New Art Prize, (finalist), Art Gallery of Ballarat
Spring 1883, The Establishment Hotel, Sydney
2016 Spring 1883, The Hotel Windsor, Melbourne
2015 More love hours, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
do it (Adelaide), Samstag Museum of Art, Adelaide
2014 Dark Heart, 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia
Melbourne Art Fair, The Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
Inner workings, GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide
2013 Neck of the woods, Adelaide Central Gallery
2012 Deep Space, Art Gallery of South Australia
New work, GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide
2011 Imagining Interiors, The Jam Factory, Adelaide
2010 The NEW NEW, The Gallerie, Adelaide
Flyblown, Feltspace, Adelaide
Nameless Cylinder, Dianne Tanzer Gallery, Melbourne
2009 Between us, Adelaide Central Gallery
2007 Infernal Cake, Über Gallery, Melbourne
2006 Things will be great, MOP Gallery, Sydney
Sensible Shoes, Adelaide Central Gallery
2005 Petrified Nature, Downtown Art Space, Adelaide
Superstructure, West Space, Melbourne
2004 Primavera, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2004 - Current Lecturer, Adelaide Central School of Art
2013 Artist in Residence, Seymour College
2008 Artist in Residence, Wilderness School
SELECTED GRANTS AND AWARDS
2019 Arts South Australia, IMP Project Grant
2018 Australia Council Grant, Arts Projects for Individuals
Arts South Australia, IMP Project Grant
2016 Winner, The Advertiser Contemporary Art Award, SALA Festival
2015 Arts South Australia, IMP Project Grant
2013 Arts South Australia, Last Minute Presentation Grant
2011 Australia Council Grant, New Work
Arts South Australia, IMP Project Grant
2008 Arts South Australia, IMP Project Grant
2007 Arts South Australia, IMP Project Grant
SAYAB Project and Development Grant
2004 SAYAB Project and Development Grant
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020 Monsters in the gallery: Adelaide biennial invites the chaos of the unknown, Jane Howard, The Guardian, March 3rd
A meeting of monsters at the Adelaide Biennial brings us closer to our fears, Catherine Speck, The Conversation, March 2nd
2019 The National 2019: New Australian Art, Craig Judd, Artlink, May 15th
Review: The National – New Australian Art, Gina Fairley, Artshub, April 1st
2018 Double edge of nature, William Yeoman, The West Australian, April 7th
2017 Wicked, John Neylon, The Adelaide Review, Issue 449
Long Ballads, Kathleen Linn, fine print, Issue 11, http://www.fineprintmagazine.com/julia-robinson-long-ballads
Winning weight: Versus Rodin: Bodies across space and time, Margot Osborne, Art Monthly, Issue 297
Versus Rodin: Bodies across space and time, John Neylon, The Adelaide Review, Issue 446
2016 A touch of taboo, Tracey Clement, Art Collector 2016 edition of Spring 1883
Julia Robinson and Greg Geraghty, Artist Profile, http://www.artistprofile.com.au/julia-robinson-greg-geraghty/
The Song of Master John Goodfellow, Jane Llewellyn, http://artguide.com.au/julia-robinson
2015 Varieties of Religious Experience, Ken Bolton, The Dark Horsey Form Guide, Vol 15.3
One to rot and one to grow, Kirsty Darlaston, Artlink, Volume 35: 3
Dancing and Dying, Lisa Slade, Broadsheet, Volume 44.2
2014 Curating the curative: talismanic tendencies in contemporary art, Lisa Slade, Das Superpaper
Jump cuts, John Neylon, The Adelaide Review, Issue 415
2013 Bodies cast in a state of sexual ambiguity, Robert Nelson, The Age, March 13th
Playing the Fontanelle, Wendy Walker, Art Monthly, Issue 265
2011 Sympathy for the Devil, Jennifer Kalionis, Artlink, Volume 31:4
Death Becomes Her, Sinead Stubbins, Melbourne Weekly, August 31st
Oh my Goth, John Neylon, The Adelaide Review, Issue 376
2010 CACSA Contemporary 2010: The NEW NEW, Lisa Harms, Artlink, Volume 30, No 4
2009 Satan and Friends, Inga Walton, Textile, Issue 1, No. 93
2008 No ifs or butts, Ross Moore, Sightlines Galleries, The Age, October 3rd
Two Adventures in Three Dimensions, Megan Backhouse, Art Guide Australia, September/October
2007 The Infernal Cake, Inga Walton, Craft Culture, March 24th
2005 Petrified Nature, Sera Waters, Artlink, Volume 25:1
Primavera 2004, Alex Gawronski, Broadsheet, Volume 33.4
2004 eat, wolf, Sarah Quantrill, dB Magazine, Issue 339
Petrified Nature, Sera Waters, dB Magazine, Issue 344
COLLECTIONS
Art Gallery of South Australia
Museum of Contemporary Art
Artbank
Private collections both international and national