David Robilliard

David John Keith Robilliard (23 July 1952 – 3 November 1988) was a British poet and contemporary artist.

Life Robilliard was born in 1952 in Guernsey. He moved to London in 1975, accompanying his friend Lester Queripel, hoping to launch his career as a musician and a poet. Robilliard did not have any formal training as a painter, but he had started writing poetry and making drawings in Guernsey. However, there are no traces of these early poems and drawings: according to Queripel in a letter to Gilbert & George dated 12 November 1988, he consistently destroyed his work as he did not want to be called a "sissy" by his friends. In London, he lived in the Shoreditch area, and shared a studio with Andrew Heard from 1983 onwards. The artist was also his partner. He frequented the London club and pub scene, a familiar presence in places such as Blitz, where Heard worked in the 1970s, Heaven and the Café de Paris, The Bell in King's Cross and The French House in Soho.

His artwork was exhibited at L'Escargot and the Hippodrome, a music venue on Charing Cross.

Exhibitions David Robilliard Solo Show, James Birch Fine Art, London, 1985 The British Art Show 1990, Southbank Centre, London, 1990 A roomful of hungry looks, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1993 The yes no quality of dreams, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 2014 David Robilliard: Welcome to the Friendly Isle, Guernsey Museums & Galleries, Guernsey, 2025

Publications Inevitable (London, 1984). Swallowing Helmets (Eindhoven, 1987). A Box of Poems (Birch & Conran, London 1987)