Bonjour Mamacita forms part of Robbins’s continued exploration of painting as a source of respite and joy. This 200 cm x 1000 cm immersive painting is once again inspired by the natural world, this time specifically relating to the mating rituals of male birds. Accompanying the installation is an original sound track and dance performance piece. The dancer representing the female of the species that the males are sending their affections to (when the dancer is not present, a small bird sculpture sits uninterestedly atop a tree stump set in front of the painting). The sound track helps set the scene and mood, somewhat of a Barry White, funk, disco, love ballad. Bonjour Mamacita is not a conceptual piece in the modern sense. It doesn’t set out to challenge or comment on any sense of male/female sexuality, relationships or social behaviour. It’s an immersive piece of visual and audible art, to be enjoyed simply for what it is.

It’s an atmosphere.
An environment.
A sort of surreal landscape.
A compelling object.
A piece that’s free from conceptual wants.
If anything, it’s a respite from such things.