The Art of Rubem Robierb
Rubem Robierb's Bullet-fly Effect Series offers a sharp and distinctive analysis of changes to our planet…by nature or by conflict. The artist has chosen to combine the butterfly and the bullet, creating a dramatic metaphor for the swift, sometimes gentle, sometimes tragic, transformations of our world. The birth of a butterfly is a wonder filled gift of nature. The remark
able and valiant metamorphoses from caterpillar to chrysalis then the birth of the graceful delicate butterfly. Forged from steel and blazing fire, the production of the potent and deadly bullet. Two diametrically opposed values alter the earth. Robierb also utilizes the butterfly effect as it relates to the Chaos Theory, a philosophical/scientific hypothesis that seeks to explain that apparently unrelated events are actually interconnected in the subatomic level… the universality of all action. Does the flapping of a butterfly in New York create a tsunami in Japan? Robierb’s dramatic use of color gives life to his bionic butterflies and reinforces his stylistic alliance with the pop art movement. This coalition of avant garde artist and the pop art movement can also be seen when Robierb, utilizing a manual process, deliberately removes the shadows from pictures of real butterflies and real bullets, giving to the final work a two-dimensional look. The artist’s bold confrontation with both the fragile and the ferocious is a fascinating and compelling commentary on contemporary life, and establishes Rubem Robierb in the forefront of emerging South American artists. STATEMENT
As an Artist, Robierb focuses on the contemporary American society, making emphasis in the sociocultural issues that define our current times. He also focuses in the human figure, and the different aspects that reveal the human body language. His approach to photography is rather edgy, political, ironic and critical, and for that very reason, quite motivating. Robierb is keen on photographing all sorts of people, objects and scenes around the world with its different shapes and ethnicities. He intertwines images in a critical way giving his personal vision of our contemporary world. Sometimes, his work are very minimal, eliminating all superfluous details; other times his photographs mix in a kind of collage, as a result of the combining his own images to explosive colors and external subjects. He defines his photographs as SHARP and BOLD, but they are rather provocative and disturbing, conforming an ironic statement mixed with a harmonic beauty. As he says: “You can like or not like my art but you never will walk out without some emotional reaction or thought about what you saw, and this is exactly my GOAL. Since I stopped writing poems and became a photographer, the images can “talk” things that the words just can’t.”
Robierb’s unique method of photographing unexpected facial angles reveals the uniqueness of human nature in opposite states such as masculine/ feminine, white/ black, good/evil, happiness/sorrow, and peace/anger. BIOGRAPHY
Rubem Robierb was born in the Brazilian state of Maranhão in 1976, which is also the cradle of several Brazilian poets. For many years, Robierb lived between poetry and photography using photos to translate his words into images and make them visual. As time went by, the artist found that he had little time for writing because photography had become the greatest part of his life and work. It suffices to say that Robierb didn’t necessarily stop writing but merely began to write with lights and shapes … not words. Today, Robierb says he believes his pictures are to be read. At the age of 20, Robierb moved to São Paulo, Brazil to become a professional photographer in the advertising industry. Art et Partage Association in Aix en Provence, France, sponsored his first solo show, Brezil Autrement, and a book for his works. In Zurich, Image House Gallery also presented his solo show Brezil Autrement. In Paris, Quadra Gallery presented his series Visages Metis. In Milan, The Brezil-Italy Institute presented his series African Beauty in a solo show. In Monaco, he participated in the Art Curial Monaco for Fight Aids Foundation. In Sao Paulo, at The Alliance Francaise, he had his solo show Brezil Autrement. Four years ago, Robierb moved to the United States continuing developing his artistic career; now he lives between New York( where he recently showed his Bullet-fly Effect Serie) and Miami, where he has his own studio, and he makes part of the Art Basel scene. In the last three Art Basel seasons he presented the solo shows Eros Thanatos, Show Me the Money and Bullet-fly Effect. His works are represented in collections and galleries in New York, Miami, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Milan, Paris, Monaco and Zurich. Exhibitions:
Year 2013:
December 2013 - Reflections. A group show at Biscayne Art House. Miami , USA
December 2013 - True Colors. A group show at Icon South Beach. Miami Beach, USA
November 2013 - Bullets and Butterflies. A solo show at Taglialatella Galeries. New York, USA
Year 2012:
November 2012 - Bulletf-fly Effect - Solo show - Emmanuel Fremin Gallery. October 2012 - Afordable Art Fair - Spirit Del Art Gallery. September 2012
Nine(9) Honorable Mentions at The International Photography Awards 2012
Eros Thanatos Serie – Category Fine Art: Nudes
Pop Saints Serie – Category Fine Art: Collage
Show me Money Serie – Category Fine Art: Still Life
Bullet-Fly Effect Serie – Category Fine Art: Collage
Casa das Minas Serie – Category People: Culture
Casa das Minas Serie – Category People: Lifestyle
See Serie – Category Fine Art: Portrait
See Serie – Category People: Portrait
Centauro – Category People: Self-Portrait
March 2012 - ArteAmericas Art Fair - Canal Gallery. Miami, USA. January - February 2012 - Show Me the Money. A Solo Show at Curators Voice Gallery. Miami, USA
Year 2011:
December - Eros Thanatos. A Solo Show at Red Dot Art Fair (ART BASEL) - Miami, USA. September – Fashionable. A Solo Show at Rubem Robierb Studio, Miami, USA. June - FIA Art Fair. Canal Gallery., Caracas, Venezuela. Year 2009:
November – Photophantasma. A Group Show at Avant Gallery, Miami, USA. Year 2008:
December - Spiritual Portrait. A Solo Show at Icon South Beach, Miami Beach, USA. Year 2007
December - A Group Show. Princess Stephanie & Art Curial Auction for Fight Aids Foundation. - Monte Carlo, Monaco. Year 2006:
November - Negros. A Solo Show at IBRIT (Institute Brazil Italy) Milan, Italy. September - Corpo Revelado. A Group Show at Blue Life Cultural Space. São Paulo, Brazil. April – July. Brésil Autrement. A Solo Show at Gallery Image The House. Zurich, Switzerland. January – March. A Solo Show: Gallery llana. Paris, France. A Solo Show at Gallery of the L'Open. Year 2005:
Nov – Dec. A Solo Show at Gallery Alliance Francaise. July - Brésil Autrement. A Solo Show at Gallery Space D´Art Sextius. Aix En Provence, France. June - Visages Métis. A Group Show at Quadra Galerie.
