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)
$2,400Sale Price|20% Off
"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 ...
C Print
The Desk
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
David Hockney’s The Desk reimagines the traditional still life through the lens of perspective and how we view the world around us, a popular period of experimentation in his career....
Board, C Print
Giardino di Uzzano nel Chianti, Italy
By Massimo Listri
Located in New York City, NY
Chromogenic Print – Unframed Free Shipping – Ask us for custom framing options. 40 x 48 inches - edition of 5 48 x 60 inches - edition of 5 71 x 88.5 inches - edition of 5 "My ph...
Archival Paper, C Print
$8,200
H 49 in W 30 in
Sunday Afternoon in El Yunque (After El Pan Nuestro de Cada Dia by Ramon Frade)
By Carlos Betancourt
Located in New Orleans, LA
Carlos Betancourt Sunday Afternoon in El Yunque (After El Pan Nuestro de Cada Dia by Ramon Frade de Leon), 2008 C-print on Metallic Lambda 49 x 30 inches Edition of 5 For more than ...
Archival Paper, C Print, Lambda
Tyler Shields - Chanel Champagne - Indulgence
By Tyler Shields
Located in New York City, NY
Available Sizes: 20 x 20 Edition of 3 40 x 40 Edition of 3 60 x 60 Edition of 3 Print only. Los Angeles-based photographer Tyler Shields seeks “beauty in chaos,” capturing both yo...
C Print
Pink sky from airplane
By Nan Goldin
Located in New York, NY
Nan Goldin Pink sky from airplane 2000 Cibachrome 30 x 40 inches; 76 x 102 cm Edition of 15 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in ink (verso) Available f...
Photographic Film, C Print
Glitter Champagne
By Tyler Shields
Located in New York City, NY
Available Sizes: 18 x 18 Edition of 3 30 x 30 Edition of 3 45 x 45 Edition of 3 60 x 60 Edition of 3 Los Angeles-based photographer Tyler Shields seeks “beauty in chaos,” capturing...
C Print
Pill Box
By Tyler Shields
Located in New York City, NY
Available Sizes: 18 x 18 Edition of 3 30 x 30 Edition of 3 45 x 45 Edition of 3 60 x 60 Edition of 3 Los Angeles-based photographer Tyler Shields seeks “beauty in chaos,” capturing...
C Print
Folded Corner
Located in New York, NY
Paul Sietsema Folded Corner 2011 Lambda C-print 18 1/2 x 14 1/8 inches; 47 x 36 cm Edition of 25 Signed, dated, and numbered in ink (verso) Frame availab...
C Print, Lambda
Masonic Temple II, Philadelphia, USA
By Massimo Listri
Located in New York City, NY
Chromogenic Print – Unframed Free Shipping – Ask us for custom framing options. 40 x 48 inches - edition of 5 48 x 60 inches - edition of 5 71 x 88.5 inches - edition of 5 "My ph...
Archival Paper, C Print, Digital Pigment
Pollination
By Tyler Shields
Located in New York City, NY
Available Sizes: 18 x 18 Edition of 3 30 x 30 Edition of 3 45 x 45 Edition of 3 60 x 60 Edition of 3 Los Angeles-based photographer Tyler Shields seeks “beauty in chaos,” capturing...
C Print
Chanel Perfume
By Tyler Shields
Located in New York City, NY
Available Sizes: 18 x 18 Edition of 3 30 x 30 Edition of 3 45 x 45 Edition of 3 60 x 60 Edition of 3 Los Angeles-based photographer Tyler Shields seeks “beauty in chaos,” capturing...
C Print
Massimo Listri, Biblioteca de Mafra V, Mafra, Portugal
By Massimo Listri
Located in New York City, NY
Chromogenic Print – Unframed Free Shipping – Ask us foar custom framing options. 40 x 48 inches - edition of 5 48 x 60 inches - edition of 5 71 x 88.5 inches - edition of 5 "My p...
Archival Paper, C Print