Robinson’s first solo exhibition opened this Friday at the Pyrites gallery. Although Pyrites has always had an excellent website Robinson’s show is their first virtual only exhibition; this makes considerable demands on viewers who are unfamiliar with ceramic art, particularly with Robinson’s rugged, unglazed wood-fired vessels. The exhibition raises two important issues: one about the conditions that support an artist; how they acquire techniques and develop skills, how they learn about the culture of their discipline, its history, traditions and the contemporary ideas and discourse it attracts. The other whether there is anything special about the consumption of things made by hand and things made of clay and what limitations, if any, does a virtual presentation impose.
For the first fifteen years of my life my knowledge of clay, like Robinson, was
