Robbie Fife, Old World Sentinel, 2023
Etching, edition of 25, 40 x 31cm
Robbie Fife’s paintings and prints are carefully constructed, featuring an intriguing array of subjects including toy-like towers that become rockets, mysterious figures, and sharks. A course in Indian miniature painting, and the architecture of the Spanish landscape have profoundly influenced Robbie’s practice resulting in gently surreal works that are rich in surface pattern and narrative.
Often, otherworldly beings are the protagonists in Robbie’s imagery, and this new etching, depicting a mystical feathery figure, is no exception. Inspired by feathers from local birds found on walks, and the wire-wrapped sticks used in electroculture, Robbie says that, to him, the image ‘speaks of the old world, the old ways, and the natural world. Ferns are one of the earths’ most ancient plants. I think of this sentinel as a protector and guardian of the old world’.
Fife graduated with an MFA in painting from The Slade School of Fine Art in 2014. He has exhibited widely in the UK. Exhibitions include; Nightswimming, LLE @ Mission Gallery, Swansea, 2018; Sightseers, g39, Cardiff, 2018; Outhouse (solo), May Project, Brook Green, London, 2016. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut, USA in November/December 2015 and Carraig-na-gcat, Ireland in September 2019. In 2021, Oliver Projects presented a solo exhibition of Robbie’s work, ‘Kist’, in London, and exhibited new work at the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair in 2021 and 2022. Willoughby Gerrish has presented two solo exhibitions of paintings, in London and in most recently, in Yorkshire. Robbie now lives in Thirsk, Yorkshire.
Etching, edition of 25, 40 x 31cm
Robbie Fife’s paintings and prints are carefully constructed, featuring an intriguing array of subjects including toy-like towers that become rockets, mysterious figures, and sharks. A course in Indian miniature painting, and the architecture of the Spanish landscape have profoundly influenced Robbie’s practice resulting in gently surreal works that are rich in surface pattern and narrative.
Often, otherworldly beings are the protagonists in Robbie’s imagery, and this new etching, depicting a mystical feathery figure, is no exception. Inspired by feathers from local birds found on walks, and the wire-wrapped sticks used in electroculture, Robbie says that, to him, the image ‘speaks of the old world, the old ways, and the natural world. Ferns are one of the earths’ most ancient plants. I think of this sentinel as a protector and guardian of the old world’.
Fife graduated with an MFA in painting from The Slade School of Fine Art in 2014. He has exhibited widely in the UK. Exhibitions include; Nightswimming, LLE @ Mission Gallery, Swansea, 2018; Sightseers, g39, Cardiff, 2018; Outhouse (solo), May Project, Brook Green, London, 2016. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut, USA in November/December 2015 and Carraig-na-gcat, Ireland in September 2019. In 2021, Oliver Projects presented a solo exhibition of Robbie’s work, ‘Kist’, in London, and exhibited new work at the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair in 2021 and 2022. Willoughby Gerrish has presented two solo exhibitions of paintings, in London and in most recently, in Yorkshire. Robbie now lives in Thirsk, Yorkshire.
Etching, edition of 25, 40 x 31cm
Robbie Fife’s paintings and prints are carefully constructed, featuring an intriguing array of subjects including toy-like towers that become rockets, mysterious figures, and sharks. A course in Indian miniature painting, and the architecture of the Spanish landscape have profoundly influenced Robbie’s practice resulting in gently surreal works that are rich in surface pattern and narrative.
Often, otherworldly beings are the protagonists in Robbie’s imagery, and this new etching, depicting a mystical feathery figure, is no exception. Inspired by feathers from local birds found on walks, and the wire-wrapped sticks used in electroculture, Robbie says that, to him, the image ‘speaks of the old world, the old ways, and the natural world. Ferns are one of the earths’ most ancient plants. I think of this sentinel as a protector and guardian of the old world’.
Fife graduated with an MFA in painting from The Slade School of Fine Art in 2014. He has exhibited widely in the UK. Exhibitions include; Nightswimming, LLE @ Mission Gallery, Swansea, 2018; Sightseers, g39, Cardiff, 2018; Outhouse (solo), May Project, Brook Green, London, 2016. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut, USA in November/December 2015 and Carraig-na-gcat, Ireland in September 2019. In 2021, Oliver Projects presented a solo exhibition of Robbie’s work, ‘Kist’, in London, and exhibited new work at the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair in 2021 and 2022. Willoughby Gerrish has presented two solo exhibitions of paintings, in London and in most recently, in Yorkshire. Robbie now lives in Thirsk, Yorkshire.
