John Robinson (Worcester, UK) studied Fine Art at Falmouth College of Arts, where he was mentored by the painter Robert Lenkiewicz, developing an early engagement with the chromatic potential of grey and an enduring interest in occult literature.
Awarded the Richard Ford Scholarship by the Royal Academy of Arts, Robinson spent a formative summer in residence at the Museo del Prado before remaining in Madrid for a decade, interrupted by an MA at Central Saint Martins, London. His work is held in collections including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Wellcome Collection, the British Council Collection, the Focus-Abengoa Foundation (Seville), and the Coldwell Banker Collection.
Robinson's practice centres on the self-portrait as a problem of disguise, and as a contemporary inflection of lineages associated with Velázquez, Goya, and Rembrandt. Each painting originates in performances that are not published but translated into oil. The artist describes the works as "equal parts art history, part performance, and part humiliation culture".
At DeNode, Robinson presented the solo exhibition People Ruin Paintings (14 February – 28 April 2026), opened with a series of performances during the vernissage.
