This spring, museum Voorlinden will present the first solo exhibition featuring artist Robin Rhode (South Africa, 1976) in the Netherlands. In this retrospective, Voorlinden celebrates his artistic journey from 2000 to the present day. Whether it is a photo, video, sculpture or performance, each of his works can be traced back to the act of drawing. For Robin, a wall functions as his canvas, on which his temporary interventions depict imaginary worlds. 

Walls provide an important motif and vehicle. For Robin, they are not a boundary but rather windows to the imagination. Using chalk, charcoal and paint, he draws the sets for his performances on walls, capturing the action in photos or videos. Robin is a true illusionist. With only a few lines, he brings an entire world to life before our eyes and in doing so, he activates our powers of imagination. It is a great honour to show my work at Voorlinden and its unique exhibition spaces with its harnessing of natural light. I cannot wait to share 20 years of my artistic practice with the Dutch audience, and to invite them into my universe. – Robin Rhode
 



Over the past two decades, Robin has created an extensive and multi-faceted oeuvre with a strong individual signature. His work is playful and contains a wealth of references to music, poetry, art, and history. His oeuvre is characterised by a visual combination of street art, drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, film, and photography. His preferred materials are charcoal, chalk and paint and you can recognise his work by its simple and clear language of form. Over the years, Robin has transformed himself from a lone performer to the director of an artistic fellowship with whom he can realise more ambitious productions. While his artistic journey began in his homeland, South Africa, Robin and his interventions have since travelled to every corner of the globe.Robin Rhode awakens our imaginations like no one else. His work invites you to enter his imaginary world, which is precisely what we need right now, in light of the current limitations Suzanne Swarts