Holder Up

Maximillian William is delighted to present 'Holder Up', a new body of work by Ro Robertson, their third solo exhibition at the gallery. Drawing upon a working-class history of bodily engagement with the materials of heavy industry, Robertson channels the physicality of industrial labour through performance, drawing, riveted steel collage, and welded steel sculpture, reinterpreting its gestures into rhythmical abstract form. The exhibition’s title is drawn from the artist’s great-grandfather’s role in the shipyards: a ‘Holder Up’ – someone who was responsible for bracing red-hot rivets in place while they were hammered overhead into steel structures. Within a contemplative process...

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'Holder Up', installation view, Maximillian William, 2025. Courtesy of the artist Maximillian William, London
Potrait of Ro Robertson. Photo by Here Now Films

Ro Robertson (they/them) (b. 1984, Sunderland, UK) is a contemporary artist based in West Cornwall. Robertson’s practice spans sculpture, drawing, painting and video, mediums through which they explore the boundaries of the human body and its environment.

Robertson works site specifically, often outdoors, with a multi-sensory focus...

Ro Robertson (they/them) (b. 1984, Sunderland, UK) is a contemporary artist based in West Cornwall. Robertson’s practice spans sculpture, drawing, painting and video, mediums through which they explore the boundaries of the human body and its environment.

Robertson works site specifically, often outdoors, with a multi-sensory focus on the body in the landscape. Unity between the material of the natural landscape and the body reclaims a space for LGBTQ+ identity against a history of being deemed ‘against nature’. Physical explorations of the natural landscape feed into ‘automatic’ abstract drawings and short mediative video works. Robertson’s large-scale sculptures embed the fluidity of this cyclical practice into rigid and industrial materials such as Corten steel and marine paint, materials that bridge their family heritage of ship building and their sculptural practice.