Exhibitions

Three of my early exhibitions explored the New Zealand landscape through the eyes of significant scientists. Some of The Field Evidence looked at the life and work of Leslie Adkin. Charles Fleming Hears The Kokako Sing visualized Fleming’s campaign to save the native forest of the Mamaku Plateau and The Man Who Moved New Zealand examined the geologist Harold Wellman’s explanation of The Alpine Fault.

A series of exhibitions have also considered the First World War and the years leading up to it. Gold Strike visualized the crushing of the 1912 Waihi gold miners strike. The Rua Expedition dealt with the police invasion of Rua Kenana’s community at Maungapohatu in 1916. Number One Field Punishment examined Archibald Baxter’s opposition to military conscription and Hell Here Now - The Gallipoli Diary of Alfred Cameron visualized Alfred Cameron's experiences at Gallipoli in 1915.

The Three Wise Men of Kurow looked at how Girvan McMillan, Andrew Davidson and Arnold Nordmeyer's experience of living in Kurow during the depression of the 1930's resulted in the 1938 Social Security act and our free public health service.

The exhibition The Road of Invasion was inspired by Vincent O’Malley’s book ‘The Great War for New Zealand – Waikato 1800 – 2000.’ The major work from this show, The Great South Road, is now in the Waikato Museum - Te Whare Taonga o Waikato.

I have also published many award winning children’s books. You can find out more about those on the books page of this blog.

Exhibitions

The River of Salt Water Where we Landed. Idiom Studio, Wellington, 1999

Some of The Field Evidence – Paintings based on the Diaries of Leslie Adkin. Idiom Studio, Wellington, November 2000
Manawatu Art Gallery, August – September 2001

Bob Kerr – New Paintings, Idiom Studio, Wellington, August 2001

Bob Kerr – New Paintings, Idiom Studio, Wellington, October 2002
Boundary lines, McPherson Gallery, Auckland, 2003
The Rua Expedition 
Whakatane Museum and Art Gallery, November – December 2003
Rotorua Museum of Art and History, December – February 2004
Idiom Studio, Wellington, February – March 2004
Waikato Museum of Art and History, March – May 2004
New Paintings by Bob Kerr, McPherson Gallery, Auckland, June 2004
South Coast, Idiom Studio, Wellington, November 2004
You are Here, McPherson Gallery, Auckland, June 2005
The River, Idiom Studio, Wellington, November 2005
Charles Fleming Hears The Kokako Sing, McPherson Gallery, Auckland, July 2006, Rotorua Museum of Art and History, May 2007
Waiting For The Grader-man, Milford Galleries, Queenstown, November – December 2006
Moving Right Along, Idiom Studio, Wellington, December, 2006
Coming into Land, McPherson Gallery, Auckland, June – July 2007
Number One Field Punishment – Archibald Baxter’s Opposition to Military Conscription, Milford Galleries, Dunedin, August – September 2008
The Man Who Moved New Zealand – Harold Wellman and The Alpine Fault,
Bowen Galleries, Wellington, August – September 2008
Hell Here Now - The Gallipoli Diary of Alfred Cameron,
The Rotorua Museum of Art and History, April – May 2009
Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures, March – May 2010
Hell Here Now. A musical interpretation of Bob Kerr’s painting with Slava Fainitski, Violin, Catherine McKay, piano and Brenton Veitch, cello and readings from Alfred Cameron’s diary by Robin Kerr. 22nd April – 25th April 2010. Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures.
Capital Times. A group show with Geoffrey Notman, Barbara Strathdee, Ans Westra, Neil Pardington, Ann Shelton, Bob Kerr. Suite Gallery, Wellington. 21st May - 26th June 2010
The Three Wise Men of Kurow. Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington. 21st and 22nd of March 2011.
The Rocky Barron Hills. Suite Gallery, 24th November until the 12th of December, 2011
Hell Here Now - The Gallipoli diary of Alfred Cameron. Whitespace Contemporary Art. 17th of April until the 6th of May 2012
Gold Strike. Waihi Arts Centre and Museum, November the 11th until to the 25th of November. The Rotorua Museum from 13 April – 30 June 2013, Whitespace Gallery, during July 2013
Number One Field Punishment. Tauranga Art Gallery, April 12, 2014 - June 8, 2014. Paintings about Mark Brigs and Archibald Baxter with a soundscape by Wellington musician Andrew Laking.

The Three Wise Men of Kurow. MacAtamney Gallery, Geraldine. 12th of October until the 17th of December 2014

It Was The Fun of The World - Tim Armstrong writes to his children from Lyttelton jail. Whitespace Contemporary Art, Auckland. 8th of September - 27th September 2015.

Empire City: Songs about Wellington. Paintings for Andrew Laking's CD and book published by VUP and Pirate and Queen. Launched at Wellington Museum, 17th. September 2015

Inland. A joint exhibition with the sculptor Bing Dawe. Whitespace Gallery. November 2016

The Road of Invasion. Whitespace Gallery, from the 24th of October to the 11th of November.
Places Whitespace Gallery, from 31^st March to the 26th of April.

Most of the paintings from the above exhibitions are now held in collections in New Zealand and overseas. Perhaps Bob’s best-known painting is on the cover of Michael King’s Penguin History Of New Zealand.