ART, WHATEVER IT TAKES

Since the early pandemic in 2020, Rome Art Program has conducted a series of interviews, “Art, Whatever It Takes.”
Artists, Art Critics, and Art Historians living in Italy, the U.S., and U.K., share their insights during these powerful times.

Carole Robb: 'Stato da Màr'

Born in Port Glasgow, Scotland, Carole Robb studied at the Glasgow School of Art, Rome Scholar, Fulbright Scholar to the USA, member of the National Academy of Art & Design – New York, artist of international renown, founder and Artistic Director of RomeArtProgram, Europe’s leading postgraduate art scholarship school.   Eloquent witness to climate change, Carole Robb is exhibiting in the UK for the first time in over 42 years.   In the meantime, she has exhibited successfully in New York and elsewhere in the USA, including the Metropolitan Museum – New York, as well as in Rome.  Her work is held in public and private collections on both sides of the Atlantic. 

May 2025:  Tom Rowland presents ‘Stato da Màr’, recent paintings by Carole Robb in an exhibition at the GPS Gallery in Soho, London, the artist’s first UK exhibition since her solo show at the South London Gallery in 1983, Robb has since exhibited extensively in New York.

RomeArtProgram: "Why is the exhibition called 'Stato da Màr' ?"

Carole Robb: "The exhibition takes its name from a large diptych painting of mine from 2023, which depicts a dark and watery Venice, flooded with mysterious shadows and reflections. The title, 'Stato da Màr', refers to 'The State of the Sea', the historical name given to the maritime and overseas possessions of the Republic of Venice from around 1000 to 1797. In the context of modern climate change and rising sea levels, the current state of the sea becomes topical".

RAP: “Why Venice...?”

Carole: "For me, the paintings are the result of observations I made in Venice during the time I spent there from 2021, looking for a sense of place and a way to paint water as form. I had worked from observation and invention, and I began by observing women and their dogs crossing the Grand Canal in gondolas. I thought I was witnessing the Aqua Alta, the annual flooding of the city, before realising it was out of season. I was an observer of rising water levels and climate change".

RAP: “What's the difference for an artist to paint in Venice?”

Carole: "I start working when I'm surprised by something I see. I'm more surprised in Venice than anywhere else. In general (so, not related to this question...) my work is based somewhere between the reality of a scene and invention".

RAP: “What were you thinking when you finished the Venetian paintings?”

Carole: "You don't say goodbye to Venice, it's in your painting DNA".

RAP: "Is there a thought or a phrase that sticks in your mind when you think of Venice?"

Carole: "Only the angels can save us now!... with this ironically fatalistic aphorism the Venetians contemplate the mortality of their city".

RAP: "So, you are telling us the stories of the extraordinary spectacle of immaculate, gilded Venice, but also as if it were slowly sliding towards the sea..."

Carole: "I spent many months in Venice recording the life and tides of 'La Serenissima'. The tide has never been higher; the low tides no longer clear the canals and 'calli' as they once did, and violent currents threaten the ancient foundations. The future of the great city on the lagoon is shrinking, and I feel it is my duty to bear witness to the danger of the rising waters, creating painting after painting that addresses the city, its inhabitants and the water".

RAP: “Will art save us?”

Carole: “Art can help us understand what we have to lose”.

'Stato da Màr' by Carole Robb - Tom Rowland at GPS Gallery - 36 Great Pulteney Street, London, W1F 0LP - Dates: 13th - 24th May, 2025

carolerobb.com