Iain Robertson - How It Is

Born in Cyprus and brought up in Edinburgh, abstract artist Iain Robertson has lived in Cornwall since the 1990s, working in the Porthmeor Studios, overlooking Porthmeor Beach in St Ives. The Porthmeor Studios have been the site of production of some of the most important British abstract art, with Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron and Terry Frost all working there. The views over the Atlantic and the qualities of light are exceptional; perhaps it is no coincidence that many of the artists that have worked there are great colourists - and Robertson is certainly in that category. His vibrant, jazzy oil paintings vibrate with intense colour and rich textured layers of paint. They are full of joy and spontaneity - and the illusion of spontaneity, in fact being densely worked and evolving over time. Robertson has created his own language in paint, of gestural shapes which overlap, repeat, and seem to fly off the canvas. Many are named after music, and jazz is especially important in its improvisation around given forms.

Robertson has had numerous shows and his work has been exhibited internationally; including in the Tate Gallery, St Ives and Royal Scottish Academy. He has received several awards including the first Scottish recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award New York in 1988.