Rob Tucker

New Zealander Rob Tucker paints compelling still lifes, using oil,  graphite and resin on board. His naïve style belies the  sophistication of his techniques. 

Paint becomes a sculptural medium. His works are constructed  from layers of colour finished with surfboard resin, as everyday  objects are huddled together to create new form. Planes of tone  build up the background, suggestive of depth. And yet, replacing  shading and contouring with bold painted lines, Tucker’s finish is  naïve, almost two-dimensional - as sparsely suggestive as a Giorgio  Morandi (1890 – 1964). Whilst he is fascinated by the relationship between space and shape, Tucker is foremost a colourist. Paint is  scraped back and unpainted to reveal unexpected highlights, as his journey of paring back to abstraction is dramatized by the fragmented surface of the board.

His creations have acquired international acclaim. Tucker has held  successful exhibitions in the USA, Asia, Australia and the UK and  was featured on Art Melbourne’s New Generation Platform in  2012, a showcase for emerging artists deserving serious credit from  collectors and investors. In that same year, he was awarded the Royal Overseas League Visual Arts Travel Scholarship. Tucker has also exhibited at the Royal Academy. More recently, he was  celebrated by Vogue.com as a highlight of the Outsider Art Fair  New York 2015.