Robin Rhode Art

South African, b. 1976

Robin Rhode 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’s reliance on storytelling in the form of colorful murals encouraged the development of Rhode’s hybrid street-based aesthetic.

Rhode is best known for his photographic series that document 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’s 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.

Using the street corner as his studio, Principle of Hope is photographed against a ruined wall in a township in Johannesburg. Here, the glimmer of an answer resides in geometry – the necessary illusion of perfectibility. A spiral wall is rendered in painted grey tones to create the visual impression of heavy stacked concrete bricks. The painted concrete spiral evolves upwards towards a blue sky, a metaphor for an imaginary utopia. Moving between abstract speculation and visceral record, the artwork takes as a point of reference the philosopher Ernst Bloch’s book published in three volumes in the 1950s titled The Principle of Hope in which the author explores utopian impulses present in art, literature, religion and other forms of cultural expression, and envisages a future state of absolute perfection.

Find original Robin Rhode art on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Lehmann Maupin)

"Wall of Water" by Robin Rhode (Photograph, Performance, Graphic, Graffiti)

By Robin Rhode

Located in New York, NY

One chromogenic print, 2015, from the edition of 27, signed on a label that accompanies the print, sheet: 770 by 770 mm, 30 1/4 by 30 1/4 inches. Published by Lincoln Center for the ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Robin Rhode Art

Materials

C Print

Robin Rhode
"Wall of Water" by Robin Rhode (Photograph, Performance, Graphic, Graffiti), 2015

$2,400 Sale Price

20% Off

Related Items

Pulse (Kings Road) - observations at the Schindler House in Los Angeles

By Mona Kuhn

Located in San Francisco, CA

Original large format photographic print from Mona Kuhn's series Kings Road, ephemeral observations of interiors, vignettes and details captured at Rudolph Schindler's iconic LA home. In Kings Road (2022) Mona Kuhn lyrically reconsiders the realms of time and space within the midcentury architectural elements of the iconic Schindler House in Los Angeles. Built by Austrian architect Rudolph M. Schindler in 1922, the house was both a social and design experiment and an avant-garde hub for intellectuals and artists in the 1920s and ’30s. The body of work this individual photo is from incorporates chromogenic color prints, reflecting vignettes and materials of the building's emotional architecture, juxtaposition with unique solarized gelatin silver prints capturing traces of an ethereal human presence. The exhibition Kings Road has been shown in Santa Barbara, Paris, Göttingen an Lianzhou. Read more about Mona Kuhn in a recent Introspective Magazine feature - see 1stDibs page footer below Pulse (2022) Kings Road: A Rudolph Schindler House 60" x 45" / 152cm x 114cm / edition of 3 40" x 30" / 102cm x 76cm /edition of 12 limited edition photograph printed under artist supervision + accompanied by signed artist certificate: artist signature label (8x10") signed/editioned/dated/titled by the artist + stamped for authenticity label is placed centered on verso of the mounted print __________________ About the artist Acclaimed for her contemporary depictions, Kuhn is considered a leading artist in the world of figurative discourse. Throughout a career spanning more than twenty years, the underlying theme of her work is her reflection on humanity’s longing for spiritual connection and solidarity. As she solidified her photographic style, Kuhn created a notable approach to the nude by developing friendships with her subjects, and employing a range of playful visual strategies that use natural light and minimalist settings to evoke a sublime sense of comfort between the human figure and its environment. Her work is natural, restful, and a reinterpretation of the nude in the canon of contemporary art. For the past two decades, the Los-Angeles based artist's works have been shown steadily, revealing an astonishing consistency in technique, of subject and of purpose. In 2001, Kuhn’s photographs were first seen by an influential audience during the exhibition at Charles Cowles Gallery in Chelsea, New York. Kuhn’s distinct aesthetic has propelled her as one of the most collectible contemporary art photographers—her work is in private and public collections worldwide and she is represented by galleries across the United States, Europe and Asia. Kuhn was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1969, of German descent. In 1989, Kuhn moved to the US and earned her BA from The Ohio State University, before furthering her studies at the San Francisco Art Institute. She is currently an independent scholar at The Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Occasionally, Mona teaches at UCLA and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Kuhn’s first monograph, Photographs, was debuted by Steidl in 2004; followed by Evidence (2007), Native (2010), Bordeaux Series (2011), Private (2014), and She Disappeared into Complete Silence (2018/19). In addition, Stanley/Barker Editions published Kuhn's Bushes & Succulents in 2018. In 2021, Thames & Hudson published a career retrospective titled Works. Kuhn's most recent publication Kings Road (2022) with Steidl accompanies a multi-dimensional museum traveling exhibition shown in Europe and the US. Mona Kuhn’s work is in private and public collections worldwide, including The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Hammer Museum, Perez Art Museum Miami, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Kiyosato Museum in Japan. Kuhn's work has been exhibited at The Louvre Museum and Le Bal in Paris; The Whitechapel Gallery and Royal Academy of Arts in London; Musée de l’Elysée in Switzerland; Leopold Museum in Vienna Austria, The Polygon Gallery in Vancouver Canada, Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan and Australian Centre for Photography. Mona Kuhn lives and works in Los Angeles. __________________ Solo Exhibitions 2025 Mona Kuhn: Y Tu Desnudo será Un Gran Poema, Museum of Contemporary Art, Malaga, Spain Mona Kuhn: Kings Road, Lianzhou Museum of Photography, China 2024 Mona Kuhn: The Schindler House, A Love Affair, Galerie XII...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Robin Rhode Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, C Print

Mona Kuhn
Pulse (Kings Road) - observations at the Schindler House in Los Angeles, 2022

$15,000

H 60 in W 33 in

Aspects of Cosmological Indifference no. 12 [Verse I]

By Nicholas Hughes

Located in London, GB

Nicholas Hughes  Aspects of Cosmological Indifference no. 12 [Verse I], 2011 Chromogenic photograph 40.6 x 50.8 cm 16 x 20 in Edition of 8

Category

2010s Contemporary Robin Rhode Art

Materials

C Print

Nicholas Hughes
Aspects of Cosmological Indifference no. 12 [Verse I], 2011

$1,914

H 15.99 in W 20.01 in

Transparency of a Dream [2.0-II]

By Alexander James Hamilton

Located in London, GB

Alexander James Hamilton  Transparency of a Dream [2.0-II], 2019  Unique chromogenic photograph on copper with hand-varnish craquelure  Signed by the a...

Category

2010s Contemporary Robin Rhode Art

Materials

Copper

Alexander James Hamilton
Transparency of a Dream [2.0-II], 2019

$547

H 7.88 in W 7.88 in

Transparency of a Dream [2.0-X]

By Alexander James Hamilton

Located in London, GB

Alexander James Hamilton  Transparency of a Dream [2.0-X], 2019  Unique Chromogenic photograph on copper with craquelure hand-varnish  20 x 20 cm (framed)

Category

2010s Contemporary Robin Rhode Art

Materials

Copper

Alexander James Hamilton
Transparency of a Dream [2.0-X], 2019

$547

H 7.88 in W 7.88 in

Transparency of a Dream [2.0-IX]

By Alexander James Hamilton

Located in London, GB

Alexander James Hamilton Transparency of a Dream [2.0-IX], 2019 Unique Chromogenic photograph on copper with craquelure hand-varnish  20 x 20 cm (frame...

Category

2010s Contemporary Robin Rhode Art

Materials

Copper

Alexander James Hamilton
Transparency of a Dream [2.0-IX], 2019

$547

H 7.88 in W 7.88 in

The Dutch Soho NY

Located in Toronto, ON

Limited Edition C-Print of 50

Category

2010s Contemporary Robin Rhode Art

Materials

C Print

John Migicovsky
The Dutch Soho NY, 2010-

$1,080

H 13 in W 18 in

Aspects of Cosmological Indifference no. 13 [Verse I]

By Nicholas Hughes

Located in London, GB

Nicholas Hughes  Aspects of Cosmological Indifference no. 13 [Verse I], 2012 Chromogenic photograph 81.3 x 101.6 cm 32 1/8 x 40 in Edition of 8

Category

2010s Contemporary Robin Rhode Art

Materials

C Print

Nicholas Hughes
Aspects of Cosmological Indifference no. 13 [Verse I]

$4,923

H 32.01 in W 40.01 in

Robin Rhode art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Robin Rhode art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Robin Rhode in c print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Robin Rhode art, so small editions measuring 30 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Dora Franco, Lujan Candria, and Mark Bartkiw. Robin Rhode art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,000 and tops out at $3,000, while the average work can sell for $3,000.