The Long Run #4: Robert Owen on colour and oneness

“Art is this amazing subject,” says Robert Owen. “It comes from different people and it contributes to cultural identity in a way that can question ourselves…"

In this fourth episode of The Long Run, our podcast series talking to artists who’ve had careers spanning 60 years, Owen talks about what it means to create over six decades, and what he feels is the truth of his art: a sense of oneness.

Now based in Melbourne, Owen has led an incredible life of creating, working across painting, sculpture, photography, installation, and public art. While his works are cemented in geometry and abstraction, they quite stunningly bring together a range of references from philosophy, poetry, music, literature, art history, mathematics and science.

In this podcast Owen’s talks through his early practice and his ideas on art. He discusses his love of a certain shade of blue, memories of his childhood in Wagga Wagga, and the uncertainty he felt as a young artist. Owen also mentions the four years he spent on the Greek island of Hydra from 1963, living and working alongside well-known creatives like Leonard Cohen, and his time in Britain in the late 1960s working under constructionist painters.

Finally, Owen tells us about the spiritual elements of abstraction, his reflections on a practice of 60 years, and his current survey show, Blue Over Time at the Heide Museum of Modern Art.

The Long Run is an ongoing podcast series, and you can listen back to previous episodes with Gareth Sansom, Wendy Stavrianos and John Wolseley.

Blue Over Time: Robert Owen—A Survey
Robert Owen
Heide Museum of Modern Art Until 23 May

This series is kindly sponsored by Leonard Joel Auctioneers and Valuers, based in Melbourne and Sydney.

Produced and presented by Tiarney Miekus, engineering by Patrick Telfer, and music by Mino Peric.

Episode source