Robert Moore
“I like to create work that’s a bit like a landscape and a bit like a map, but also has patterns and numbers, so it’s part memory, part place, part story.”
Robert Moore is an Australian artist known for his vibrant, pattern-driven paintings that blend the personal with the architectural and ecological. Based in the Clarence Valley in northern New South Wales, Moore maintains a rigorous daily studio practice that has sustained his career since the 1980s. He rose to prominence through his work with the iconic Australian lifestyle brand Mambo in the 1990s and 2000s, and continues to be a creative force today as a contributor to the global label Deus Ex Machina. His art appears on surfboards, garments, and installations around the world, while his studio work spans everything from small, intimate canvases to expansive multi-panel compositions. Moore’s paintings often incorporate typography, numbers, and repeated forms—visual rhythms that echo both human-made environments and the biodiversity of regional Australia.
While much of his work is rooted in the landscape, Moore filters his surroundings through memory, humour, and cultural reference. His flattened forms and stylised shapes speak to the visual language of signage, suburban iconography, and roadside architecture, often punctuated with images of cars that nod to childhood nostalgia. Equally comfortable in visual and musical languages, he has also played bass guitar with artists including Robert Forster (The Go-Betweens) and Neil and Tim Finn (Crowded House). Despite these varied creative outlets, painting remains central to Moore’s practice—an evolving reflection of life lived closely with place, colour, and tempo. His work is held in major collections including the National Gallery of Australia and numerous private holdings internationally.
About the Artist
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*1964, lives and works in Clarence Valley, NSW
Bachelor of Arts (Sculpture), Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education (now University of Southern Queensland)
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Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023
Seaworthy — Linton & Kay Galleries, WA2017
New England Regional Art Museum, NSW2016
Heiser Gallery, QLD2014
Heiser Gallery, QLD2012
Heiser Gallery, QLD2010
Heiser Gallery, QLD2008
Heiser Gallery, QLD2006
Heiser Gallery, QLD2005
Lismore Regional Gallery, NSW1988
Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
Linton & Kay Galleries, WA2001
Ipswich Art Gallery, QLD2000
Heide Museum of Modern Art, VIC1999
Ipswich Art Gallery1994
Art Irritates Life (Mambo Touring Exhibition), various locations1990
National Gallery of Victoria
Twenty Australian Artists — Galleria San Vidal, Venice & Queensland Art Gallery
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Awards
2017
Finalist — Sunshine Coast Art Prize2016
Finalist — Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales2001
Anne Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship
Collections
National Gallery of Australia
Queensland Art Gallery
National Gallery of Victoria
Museum of Brisbane
Gold Coast City Art Gallery
Ipswich Art Gallery
Artspace Mackay
Holmes à Court Collection, Perth
Works by the Artist
40 x 30cm
41 x 31cm
41 x 31cm
41 x 31cm
81 x 112cm
81 x 61cm
52 x 50cm
48 x 38cm
81 x 61cm
81 x 61cm
48 x 38cm
112 x 81cm
81 x 112cm
81 x 112cm
112 x 81cm
48 x 38cm
48 x 38cm
51 x 41cm
51 x 41cm
51 x 41cm
51 x 41cm
81 x 57cm
81 x 57cm
81 x 61cm
81 x 61cm
34 x 27cm
34 x 27cm
81 x 50cm
41 x 31cm
112 x 81cm