Against the Tide - Remembering Robert Rapson

Explore the life and work of late ceramicist, Robert Rapson (1951-2020) with Caryl McKirdy, owner-operator of Wellington’s Visual Culture Gallery, former Gallery Director of both Roar and Avid galleries and executor of Robert Rapson’s ceramic estate.

Best known for his delightfully idiosyncratic sculptures and encyclopedic knowledge of boats, Rapson’s work demonstrates his joyful and quirky approach to ceramics. Mostly self-taught, Rapson came to ceramics later in life after a career in civil service—embracing art making as a way to help weather the storm clouds that passed through his life.

His joyful and distinctive approach to clay caught the eye of international curators and collectors, exhibiting his work to acclaim at the New York International Outsider Art Fair and galleries in New York, LA, Paris and Sydney. However, Rapson remained largely outside the mainstream art gallery circuit, instead developing tight-knit artistic communities within the Hutt Art Society, Wellington Pottery Society, Vincent’s and Mix – an organisation which provides artistic opportunities to people experiencing mental illness.

Against the Tide is part of The Dowse Art Museum’s 50th Anniversary programme. It continues our long-standing commitment to ceramic arts, including recent exhibitions such as Dirty Ceramics (2019) or Slip Cast (2014). It also reflects The Dowse’s support of artists operating outside the mainstream, such as Bob Gerrard’s arks or the iconic textile art of Malcolm Harrison.