Staged on the banks of the River Wear in Robertson’s hometown of Sunderland, The Ribs Begin to Rise takes inspiration from its location. It draws on the mouth of the River Wear, Sunderland Docks, Hendon Paper Works, the ropeworks and the 700 female shipbuilders who lived and worked in Sunderland. The exhibition reflects on Robertson’s family working class history and the materials key to the industries which came to define Robertson’s upbringing and the region.
The exhibition’s title The Ribs begin to Rise is taken from a small magazine titled Build the Ships written in 1946 telling the story of the life of a ship. Unusually, this magazine includes a photograph of women working in the shipyards during WW2. Unlike most photography which positioned women in poses directed by the male gaze, this image shows the women unaware of the camera and working harmoniously in relation to the monumental structure they were working on. As with most depictions of ships and shipbuilding much of the language is anthropomorphic– often using parts of the body to describe parts of a ship,
referring to ships as women, as being birthed and being made up of a giant structure of ribs.
Robertson will explore gendered and bodily connections to materials, industry, and the natural landscape touching upon queer ecologies and understandings of strength, hardness, softness and scale – combining masculinities and femininities in flux rather than being in opposition.
The Ribs Begin to Rise aims to revise how Robertson’s working-class experience has
influenced their sculptural understanding and how a queer feminist lens can reframe the rigid gender associations of sculpture and industry.
Jon Weston, Curator at NGCA, said: “We are delighted to present Ro’s newly commissioned work to audiences in their hometown of Sunderland and further afield regionally, nationally and internationally. Ro has carefully researched the position of women in the shipbuilding industries of the North East of England from the Second World War through to the decline of heavy industry in the 1980’s.
This project has allowed Ro to further expand on this research while drawing inspiration from their family’s working background and the industrial materials connected to both their sculptural practice and the heavy industries of North East England. Located on the banks of the River Wear, situated on the site of the last shipyard in Sunderland (J.L. Thompson and Sons, closed 1986), Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art provides the perfect location to host Ro’s most personal and interconnected work to date.”
The Ribs Begin To Rise is generously supported by the Henry Moore Foundation.
Image: Image: Ro Robertson, Psi, 2024 (detail), gouache, graphite and ink on paper, 113 x 127 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Maximillian William.