John Z. Robinson (born 25 May 1953 in Foxton, New Zealand) is a New Zealand painter, printmaker, and jeweller. He has lived in Dunedin, New Zealand since 1978.

Education

Robinson completed a four-and-a-half-year manufacturing jewellery apprenticeship with Max Wilson in Palmerston North in 1973 and then worked with Roy Evans at Arcade Jewellers in Timaru. From 1978 to 1980, he attended Otago Polytechnic School of Art in Dunedin where he was tutored in painting by Tom Field, Bernard Holman and Walden TuckerBenson, N., Prints from a lofty realm, in Otago Daily Times, 5 November 2009. and in sculpture by Fred Staub. He graduated with a Diploma in Fine Arts and returned to complete Honours in 1996.

Career

Robinson has worked as a designer, jeweller, painter, print-maker and sculptor. He is a colourist whose paintings (acrylic) and prints (linocut) are primarily figurative though his prints often focus entirely on words, frequently with punning intent. His paintings tend to be impressionistic, whether they be landscapes and townscapesDignan, J., Memento mori, in Otago Daily Times, 7 December 2006. or portraits.Dignan, J., Flowers and masculinity prove a potent mix, in Otago Daily Times, 4 September 2003. Painting, for Robinson, "is a very subtle thing. You use a soft brush and apply paint and it's all about the gestural type of thing. With printmaking, you've got to push a chisel through the lino, whereas jewellery is all about metal and sawing and hammering, filing and shaping. One has no resistance; one has a little bit of resistance and one has a hell of a lot of resistance".Benson, N., Prints from a lofty realm, in Otago Daily Times, 5 November 2009.

Commissions

Amongst Robinson's many commissions have been set designs for theatrical productions of Entertaining Mr Sloane, School for Scandal, The Pearl Fishers and Twelfth Night, and book cover designs for Caclin (Lincoln University), Canzona, When Two Men Embrace: The New Zealand Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Poetry, SPORT 7, and The Journal of New Zealand Literature. A painting by Robinson appears on the cover of Dweller on the threshold by Noel Ginn.

Exhibitions

Robinson's paintings and prints have been exhibited throughout New Zealand and works are included in the Hocken Collections, and the collections of Te Manawa, the Rotorua Museum and The Arts House Trust. He was awarded the William Hodges Fellowship and was artist-in-residence at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery in Invercargill in 1998. In 2006, the Port Gallery in Port Chalmers featured a retrospective of thirty years of Robinson's work in a show entitled John Z Robinson. A Survey of Paintings and Prints.

He has exhibited his paintings in Otaru in Japan and in New York City and his jewellery has been shown in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, most notably at the Bead International in Athens, Ohio in 2000. From 18 August 2007 until 21 February 2010, Robinson's jewellery featured in an exhibition entitled The Scots in New Zealand at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington.

Robinson was one of twenty-six artists invited by the Department of Conservation to travel to Tamatea (Dusky Sound) in winter 2014 and summer 2015. Their task was to connect people with this special area by offering them a glimpse of an unseen world. In a response to his experience, Robinson produced a set of six sterling silver spoons tagged with Department of Conservation bird tags and two lino cuts. These were shown as part of a group exhibition entitled Tamatea. Art and Conservation in Dusky Sound at Bowen House in Wellington in November and December 2016 and at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery in Invercargill in December 2016 to February 2017.

In 2025, Robinson exhibited 21 portraits of LGBTQ+ people with a connection to Murihiku at He Waka Tuia Art + Museum in Invercargill. The portraits were created from brush, pencil, and cut and torn coloured paper and included personal references to each participant.

Robinson was artist in residence at Henderson House in Alexandra from June to September 2026. He paid homage to the philanthropist family through a series of work produced during his stay. Arriving in the midst of a Central Otago winter, Robinson was challenged by a dominant landscape and its muted range of colours, but found inspiration within the Henderson's garden and home.

Books

Robinson's painting and print work featured in two books published in 2003 and 2004 respectively, being Other Men's Flowers. Portraits by John Z. Robinson, which concentrates on close up portraits of men, each paired with a painting of a flower, and Lake Warhola Soup - The Word-Prints of J. Z. Robinson, which focuses entirely on Robinson's punning monochromatic linocuts.

In December 2007, Longacre Press published Parallel Lines: Riding the Central Otago Rail Trail which included paintings of Central Otago by Robinson together with poetry by Annie Villiers.

Three books featuring Robinson's drawings and paintings were published in 2008 and 2009 – John Z. Robinson's 'The Dream of Endymion''', Amy Bock – A Series of Drawings by John Z. Robinson and The Male Figure in the Art of John Z. Robinson.

A book entitled Red Studio: Forty-Five Prints was published by Longacre Press in October 2009 and celebrates Robinson's print-making career. The forty-five prints, mostly linocuts, were selected from a collection of simple but expressive prints. With an introduction by novelist Laurence Fearnley, the book is an intimate portrait of the artist's development. Of the book and the work in it, Robinson stated that he "wanted to show what he could do, so there are portraits, landscapes, abstracts and more conceptual works. There are also different techniques, like monoprints, and works using different inks".Benson, N., Prints from a lofty realm, in Otago Daily Times, 5 November 2009.

A survey of Robinson's paintings was held at the TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre in Auckland in 2013. This exhibition coincided with the publication of a further book entitled J. Z. Robinson. Paintings which contains a comprehensive overview of his painting career.

In 2015, Ravenwood Press published April by Annie Villiers and Robinson. The book contains a poetic narrative by Villiers and drawings by Robinson which reflect on the transition from late summer to early winter, in particular as it evolves in the south. Anzac Day and reflections on the place of Gallipoli in the April journey become part of the narrative through drawings and words.

Art exhibitions

1980–1990

Solo exhibitions

Et Sans Umbrella. Paintings by John Robinson. University of Otago Library, Dunedin, March 1981. Have Run Will Travel. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 26 March 1984. The Rest of the Moon. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 8–20 March 1986. Scene Red. Prints and Paintings by John Robinson. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 21 April – 2 May 1986. John Robinson. Prints. Canterbury Society of Arts, Christchurch, 17–29 June 1986. John Robinson. Lino Prints. Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North, 25 September – 23 November 1986. Lino Prints. Rotorua Art Gallery, Rotorua, December 1986-February 1987. Bridge and Chorus. Art Inn Gallery, Balclutha, 14 February 1987. Exhibition. Thompson House, Levin, 15–22 February 1987. John Robinson Exhibition. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 16–27 February 1987. Scuba Scuba. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 14–25 March 1988. Penny for Your Horse. Several Arts Upstairs Gallery, Christchurch, April 1988. John Robinson. New Zealand Consulate General, Rockefeller Centre, New York, United States of America, March–April 1988. John Robinson. Paintings 1979–1989. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 27 February – 17 March 1989. 39 Views of Mt Zion. Lino-Cuts 1979-89. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 1–15 October 1989. 39 Views of Mt Zion. Eastern Southland Gallery, Gore, 30 August – 10 September 1989. Paintings and Prints by John Robinson. University of Otago Staff Club, Dunedin, April–June 1990. John Robinson. Recent Paintings. 33 Gallery, Wellington, 16 June – 5 July 1990.

1991–2000

Solo exhibitions

A Beard of Roses. 33 Gallery, Wellington, 18 May – 6 June 1991. John Robinson. Exhibition. 33 Gallery, Wellington, 13 December 1992 – 4 March 1993. Adelphi by Any Other Name. Paintings and Prints. 33 Gallery, Wellington, 13 February – 4 March 1993. John Robinson. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 30 November – 11 December 1993. Blue Rata. Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland, 15 September – 2 October 1993. An Exhibition of Paintings and Prints by John Robinson. The Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Invercargill, 16 September 1994. Inside On. Milford Gallery, Dunedin, 14–26 November 1994. Other Summers: An Exhibition of Paintings and Prints. Art Works Gallery, Wanaka, 19 August 1995. New Paintings and Jewellery. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 24 March – 12 April 1997. John Robinson. Paintings. Jewellery. Dobson Bashford Gallery, Christchurch, 16 July – 2 August 1997. Invercargill Paintings. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 20 July 1998. John Robinson. New Paintings. Dobson Bashford Gallery, Christchurch, 14 April – 1 May 1999.

2001–2010

Solo exhibitions

Clicketty Clack. Dobson Bashford Gallery, Christchurch, 28 February – 17 March 2001. Corner Bath and Stuart. Small Paintings and Prints. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 16 October – 3 November 2001. Other Men's Flowers. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 1–20 September 2003. Lake Warhola Soup. An Exhibition of Word Prints by Dunedin Artist John Z. Robinson. Jason Books, Auckland, 30 July – 13 August 2005. John Z. Robinson. A Survey of Paintings and Prints. Port Gallery, Port Chalmers, 7 April – 27 May 2006. John Z. Robinson – Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Red Gallery, Nelson, 5–22 September 2007. Amy Bock. A Series of Drawings by John Z. Robinson and The Male Figure in the Art of John Z. Robinson. Moray Gallery, 30 March – 2 April 2009.

2011–2020

Solo exhibitions

Cooee. Dunedin Fringe Festival, Starewell Stairwell Gallery, Dunedin, 17–27 March 2011. John Z. Robinson: Paintings. TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, Auckland, 23 April – 2 June 2013. The Male Nude: New Drawings by John Z. Robinson. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 6–31 October 2014. (Part of Arts Festival Dunedin, 2014). Dozen. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 7–26 April 2018. A Several World. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 30 November – 24 December 2019.

2021–

Solo exhibitions

John Z. Robinson. Picnic. Moray Gallery, Dunedin, 11–17 February 2021. Setting the Table. He Waka Tuia Art + Museum, Invercargill, 10 May – 22 June 2025.

Jewellery exhibitions

2000–2010

Solo exhibitions

The ABC of Birdland. A Wearable Alphabet by John Robinson. Lure, Dunedin, 19 August – 9 September 2000. A to Z of Birdland. An Avian Alphabet. Quoil Contemporary Jewellery Gallery, Wellington, 9–28 September 2002. John Z. Robinson – A to Z of Dunedin – A Wearable Alphabet. Lure, Dunedin, 1–27 September 2003. Table Jewels. An Exhibition of Domestic Silverware by John Z. Robinson. Quoil Contemporary Jewellery Gallery, Wellington, 3–22 October 2005. Chain. Handmade Chains by John Z Robinson. Quoil Contemporary Jewellery Gallery, Wellington, 7–21 November 2007. John Z. Robinson: 100s and 1000s. Lure, Dunedin, 1–18 October 2008. (Part of the Otago Festival of Arts, 2008).

Articles and reviews

1980–1990

No going back for printmaker. Otago Daily Times, Monday, 4 November 1985, p24. Reid, J., Impact in simple shapes. Otago Daily Times, Sunday, 16 March 1986. John Robinson. Prints. From 17–29 June 1986. CSA News, The Journal of the Canterbury Society of Arts, No. 128, 1986. John Robinson. Quarterly, Manawatu Art Gallery, September–November 1986. Earthy works. Feilding Herald, Tuesday, 23 September 1986. Tennent, B., Lino prints. The Daily Post, Wednesday, 14 January 1987, p18. Tennent, B., Exhibition portrays life of lino artist. Rotorua Daily Post, Wednesday, 4 February 1987, p16.