David Robilliard: The Yes No Quality of Dreams, ICA

With no formal training, poet and painter David Robilliard was largely an art world outsider.The upcoming ICA exhibition, The Yes No Quality of Dreams, is a revival of an artist who was never really famous, and was largely forgotten by a fickle art world after his one major retrospective at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam in 1993. 

 His charming text and image combinations, sketched onto scrappy bits of paper, are raw , witty and engaging . They have the power to stimulate an array of mixed feelings in anyone who sees them and, for all their dry humour, they show a melancholic and romantic soul. 

Coming to London from the small Channel Island of Guernsey in 1976, the 27year-old Robillard quickly initiated himself into the vibrant gay club scene of Soho. This environment fuelled his creativity and enabled him to befriend renowned artist duo Gilbert & George. When his life was tragically cut short by AIDs in 1988, they remained as firm friends  – there at at his bedside when he died. 

Rather than making an honest confession, Robilliard turns the idea of being ‘personal’ into a style, a performance. Sometimes we question whether what we witness is wilful naivety or ironic self-loathing. Few contemporary artists expose their most intimate thoughts and experiences with such pathos.

To give credence to a little known artist whose work has always remained on the periphery of mainstream culture shows the ongoing commitment of the ICA to queer, underground, and under-represented art. Don’t miss out on this rare opportunity. It really is something quite special, both for London and for the art world.