Einstein’s Gravity: The Complexity of Love

Robert Doble is a British-born artist who trained at the Chelsea School of Art in London. He moved to Melbourne in 1990, where he held solo exhibitions with his long-term dealer, Nellie Castan Gallery, and later with Scott Livesey Galleries. For many years now, he has lived in Murrurundi in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales.

Doble is, above all, a painter and builder of surfaces. His work is highly considered, emotional and densely layered, and it dwells on scars, traces and what lies hidden underneath. In this new body of work, that concern is built into the structure itself. Each board starts with a loose underdrawing and an underpainting of sumi ink and acrylic. Over this, Doble lays a tight grid of automotive paint and gloss enamel, applied in drips and bright colour. The surface grid partly hides the turbulence below, so the viewer’s eye keeps shifting between the two.

Always painting, noodling or darting around, Robert has returned to his art practice with serious intent, after years of wondering and wandering. This Murrurundi exhibition is simply magnificent: a real power-back-on demonstration of an artist at the height of his abilities, returning to his great love.

– Michael Reid OAM