Dextrous multi-media sculptor and conceptual artist, Philip A. Robinson Jr. uses wood to symbolize temporality within natural cycles of time and geography to amplify the narrative of identity within popular and marginalized cultures. The linear marks and structural beauty in spalted maple; the varied palate of tinted tones in walnut and the enduring history of the red oak trees, metaphorically define and contextualize selfhood as part of a global discourse about power paradigms that delineate culture and ethnicity as valued products and objet d’art within the marketplace.
On view post-security within Portland International Airport’s Concourse B/C Connector through March 2024, Robinson Jr.’s Welcome In is a reflective must-see exhibition of four painstakingly hand-carved relief sculptures for summer travelers.
Through the thoughtful selection of materials and the science of dendrochronology— as a protocol for historic markers for environmental changes through time—his work accentuates aesthetic and historic patterns between self and the world, with socio-political undertones. These undertones are shaped by influences from a Cherokee and African American mother and a Trinidadian and British father against the backdrop of the 1980s neo-conceptual art and installation practices and a climate of laissez-faire capitalism and technological advances.
Robinson’s ongoing exploration of identity raises questions: Who controls culture? How does history shape the importance of culture? How does historic culture become appropriated into popular culture?
How is culture sustained and influenced by others? How does the relationship between hegemonic and marginalized cultures influence value?
20 x 61 x 3 inches and 22 x 61 x 3 inches
Do these distinct values create a schism in subjective and objective definitions of self?
Robinson’s work affirms the vital connection between the foundation of one’s identity and the necessity for corrective historical discourse to avoid becoming extinct.
Robinson Jr.’s exhibition Old Talks with New Icons was conceived in conjunction with Welcome In, an animated short film created in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker John Irvine. The animated film meditates on the thematic threads that link the four sculptures together.
Both Welcome In and Old Talks With New Icons—an additional short film featuring Philip A. Robinson Jr. and his dynamic practice, are now screening concurrently at the PDX Hollywood Theatre microcinema post-security within Concourse C.
This exhibition is dedicated to the fond memory of my Uncle James E. Robinson Jr. who lived in Hillsboro, Oregon for 40 years. I love you.
Philip A. Robinson Jr. has exhibited throughout the tri-state area including, a solo exhibition at the High Line Nine, a solo exhibition at the Untitled Space Gallery, Prizm Art Fair during Miami Art Basel, The Rush Arts Gallery, KL City Art Gallery in Malaysia, LuluLemon (Hudson Yards), The National Academy Museum and School, The Barrett Art Center, the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibition, The Frances Young Tang Museum and Art Gallery, Art at the Caves, 14C Jersey City Art show & Juried Exhibition, The Bronx Art Space, The Novado Gallery, The Bridge Art Gallery, Akwaaba Gallery, The Alta Art Building, Art At The Cave, The BSB Gallery, The Conceptions Art Show (New York), Neumeraki, Pro Arts Jersey City, The Carrie Able Gallery, Grace Church School Benefit Auction, the Merseles Studios, 107 Bowers Gallery, the Distillery Gallery, the NEWYORKMINDED Gallery, 1978 Maplewood Arts Center, and SNEAKERROOM. Robinson Jr. received his BFA in Studio Art from Skidmore College and his MFA in Sculpture from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers.
Instagram: @philiparobinsonjr
For more information about this exhibition or artwork inquiries please contact: 7oak.pr@gmail.com
