ARTISTS
Robin Rhode: The Geometry of Colour
Robin Rhode (b. 1976, Cape Town, South Africa; lives and works in Berlin) engages photography, performance, drawing, and sculpture in creating visual narratives that are brought to life using quotidian materials such as soap, charcoal, chalk, and paint. Rhode came of age in the newly post-apartheid South Africa, and was exposed to new forms of creative expression motivated by the spirit of the individual rather than dictated by a political or social agenda. The growing influence of hip-hop, film, and popular sports on youth culture as well as the community鈥檚 reliance on storytelling in the form of colorful murals encouraged the development of Rhode鈥檚 hybrid street-based aesthetic. Rhode is best known for his photographic series that documents a sole protagonist interacting with murals the artist painted on public walls in Johannesburg and Berlin. In the succession of photographs, the movements of the actor appear to alter the two-dimensional renderings, compressing space and time and transforming the urban landscape into a fictional storyboard. Melding individual expressionism with broader socioeconomic concerns, Rhode鈥檚 work reveals a mastery of illusion, a rich range of historical and contemporary references, and an innate skill for blending high and low art forms.
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Robin Rhode (b. 1976, Cape Town, South Africa; lives and works in Berlin) engages photography, performance, drawing, and sculpture in creating visual narratives that are brought to life using quotidian materials such as soap, charcoal, chalk, and paint. Rhode came of age in the newly post-apartheid South Africa, and was exposed to new forms of creative expression motivated by the spirit of the individual rather than dictated by a political or social agenda. The growing influence of hip-hop, film, and popular sports on youth culture as well as the community鈥檚 reliance on storytelling in the form of colorful murals encouraged the development of Rhode鈥檚 hybrid street-based aesthetic. Rhode is best known for his photographic series that documents a sole protagonist interacting with murals the artist painted on public walls in Johannesburg and Berlin. In the succession of photographs, the movements of the actor appear to alter the two-dimensional renderings, compressing space and time and transforming the urban landscape into a fictional storyboard. Melding individual expressionism with broader socioeconomic concerns, Rhode鈥檚 work reveals a mastery of illusion, a rich range of historical and contemporary references, and an innate skill for blending high and low art forms.
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