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.

Interview with Carole Robb

Carole Robb, born Scotland, studied Painting at GlasgowSchool of Art & University of Reading England (MFA). Major awards include the Rome Prize and a Fulbright fellowship to USA.  Robb has worked in Rome, New York, Venice and London, with numerous solo shows in NYC.  Her work is included in Major Museums, including Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, Imperial War Museum &V&A Museum London.  She’s taught at New York Studio School, Royal College of Art, Camberwell Sch.of Art & The Slade, London.  She’s a member of the National Academy of  New York & is represented by Denise Bibro Gallery NYC.  Robb is RAP’s Artistic Director, and divides her time between New York and Europe.

RomeArtProgram: Where do you live? And what is your background?

Carole Robb: I was born on Scotland’s west coast. I saw ships from all over the world come upriver to the port of Glasgow. My Father was a Highlander & my Mother a Lowlander. I studied Painting at Glasgow School of Art & the University of Reading England. They taught me discipline. But I learned to dream at the British School at Rome in Italy, when I held the Rome Prize & saw the astonishing power of Art unleashed by the Italians. I took that sense of wonder with me to New York where Ab Ex had fired up the art world. I was captivated by the force of these energies & divided my time between New York & Europe. I never returned to Scotland but I still wear the tartan scarf of my clan.

RAP: In your opinion is there a “creative method”?

Carole: One time I had a studio next door to a well known artist. The walls were thin & I could hear him moving around. Each morning he’d sweep his floor for about an hour. On & on. Then it would go quiet & he was at work.

RAP: The “lock down moment” can set you on the path of some important change(s) in your creativity and style…Has this happened to you?

Carole: Artists already work in isolation in their studios & they’re learning to adapt even when they’re marooned in locations they’d never choose. In lockdown you look at how history dealt with changing circumstances & when you look at Rome you see a city that adapted to catastrophe. The rise of any civilization brings about it’s decline & when the Roman Empire crashed, Rome reinvented itself as the Mothership of the Catholic Church & welcomed the Renaissance. What’s occupied me during lockdown, is Venice in italy. I’ve been working on a series of paintings based on the city’s rising water levels & the paintings took their own direction. I work from invention & observation. The works turned into climate change paintings & the Grand Canal became a swimming pool. I’d worked on paintings of Venice before, but nothing ends it’s more like you just left the room.

RAP: What normally inspires you? Which is the most important inspirational source you have found in Rome?

Carole: There’s a cafe on Largo Argentina next to a cluster of bus stops. During rush hour it’s like Rome on speed but just across the road are ancient pillars where Julius Caesar was knifed. I get ideas drinking coffee outside this cafe, watching the chaos taking place right in front of the pillars. The columns are like meeting with messengers from the land of the Past.

RAP: Is there a difference in working in Rome for an artist? What art medium do you prefer to work in?

Carole: Where else would you see traffic police doing T’ai Chi ? If you’re painting on-site, there’s more engagement with Romans. They’re comfortable around artists & also genuinely interested in what art students are painting. One day I was painting a fountain in bright sunshine & an old man said “Water is white not red, try to get it right Maestro”. Another time I was working outside a restaurant & a waiter brought me a plate of spaghetti. I use all kinds of art materials but I find oil paint to be the most flexible.

RAP: Specific events and historical conditions have a significant role in the creative process; how does this pandemic emergency affect the Arts?

Carole: With galleries, museums & artists’ studios closed, digital platforms have emerged & exhibitions have come online. But there’s a deep human need for in-person oontact with Art & artists will meet this challenge. Art is reinventing itself, as it always does.

RAP: How are you feeling at this difficult moment and what made you feel this way?…are you optimistic for the future?

Carole: I was in Louisiana with my NY dealer, judging a museum show. The Mississippi river was a couple of miles away & I wanted to see it, so we drove onto the massive Bridge leading to Nanchez, Mississippi. It was an impressive river, we drove over it 5 times because we couldn’t find the exit. When we found it we rolled into Nanchez. Pandemics don’t last forever, we’ll just crack on & get to the other side.

RAP: What can Art contribute to history? Will “Art save us” ?

Carole: Kanindsky thought so when he aimed for spirituality vs. materialism in his paintings.

RAP: What is your most ambitious dream?…and the greatest sacrifice that you have made for your Art?

Carole: To be where I want to be, when I want to be. When you change countries more than once you know you’ll make sacrifices. I have regrets but I don’t live with them.

RAP: Recently, the artistic and cultural message of Italy and Rome was reemerging as a great “work in progress”,…is this your point of view?

Carole: I think perhaps we can all guess how this idea is going to be received by the Art Capitals of New York & London.

RAP: Which is your favorite Italian, or Roman, place(s) of art (Museum, Gallery, Monument…) ?

Carole: Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome – the mosaics over the High Altar with the strangest sheep I ever saw, I love them.

RAP: Which period of Italian Art do you prefer? What is your favorite Italian work of art?

Carole: Tintoretto in Venice – “Massacre of the Innocents ” the humanity of the gesture of a man reaching out of a window to rescue another person. Caravaggio in Rome “Conversion of St. Paul ” – an astonishing composition Bernini sculpture in Rome “Apollo & Daphne” – love & desire.

RAP: How has Rome personally influenced you as an artist and a person?

Carole: My work’s been influenced by it’s literature, movies, composers & visiting artists. Alberto Moravia’s novel “The Empty Canvas” , Bertolluci’s movie “The Conformist” Ennio Morrricone’s music for the movie “Once upon a time in the West” (the Soprano voice) Balthus’ paintings & his restoration of Villa Medici.

RAP: What’s your goal? What role does the artist have in society? Any final thoughts and advice?

Carole: I’d like to paint the Sistine Chapel but that’s been taken.

www.carolerobb.com