Portrait 35: Klee. - Limited Edition of 10 Photograph

Roberto Voorbij (1974) lives and works in Amsterdam, holds a bachelor degree in Visual arts and Art History from the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht and has attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he took classes from a.o. Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle during the late 1990s. Nominated for the ‘Prince Bernhard Fund’ and ‘Piet Bakker Prize’ for his graduation exhibition (video piece ‘Everyday’) and more recently for the ‘Artist in Action Prize’. Voorbij is an interdisciplinary artist apart from working with ‘ready made’ materials, he works with 3D Software, video and (digital) collage. His ongoing ‘Artist Portraits’ series has recently been exhibited at X BANK / W Hotel, Amsterdam and Leontia Gallery, London. Originally commissioned by ARTISTS NOT ARMIES these photo collages all follow the same concept; an artist portrait in which the face is replaced by a significant work of this artist. Besides (national) identity, are commerciality and public space recurring themes in Voorbij's work. What highly fascinates him about this is the underlying politics, history and marketing strategy of our seemingly neutral environment. His works are often socially critical. Another recurring theme concerns the art world / art market and the way in which the artist manifests itself here, as well as the autonomy of the artwork that’s being questioned. Notable exhibitions: '9streetsRED' - Amsterdam, ‘The Summer Exhibition' - The Municipal Museum, The Hague, 'Silence is a lie' - SEZ, Berlin, ‘TheArtFabric’ - São Paulo, 'Construction Festival 2015' - Ukraine, ‘Money Talks’ - Leontia Gallery, London, 'Çanakkale Art Walk 2017 - Homeland' - Kunsthalle Osnabrück, Biela Noc 2017, Bratislava, Slovakia. From 2019 one of his artist portraits will be part of the traveling group exhibition 'The World of Frida' in the United States. Interview with Overdose.am: http://www.overdose.am/2012/05/10/copyright-is-history-says-artist-roberto-voorbij