Portrait 36: Kandinsky. 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. Voorbij is a multidisciplinary artist, apart from working with ‘ready made’ materials, he works with 3D Software, (digital) collage and video. Besides (national) identity are public space and religion recurring themes in Voorbij's work. The latter interest is motivated by a Catholic upbringing, which contrasts with an ever-increasing secularization in the Netherlands. From this perspective also his 'Artist Portraits' can be interpreted - besides the clear reference to the art world - more spiritually. As a form of animism the question arises whether a work of art itself can become inspired, how the maker resonates and transforms into the creation he or she leaves behind. In addition to a representation by online gallery Saatchi Art, Voorbij is represented by Leontia Gallery in London. In 2020 his work was part of the International Biennial of Asunción, Paraguay. As part of a group show his short ‘Without clear purpose’ screened at Museum of the Moving Image, New York. The next year his short ‘Carte Blanche’ screened at BOMBA Gallery, Moscow. One of his Artist Portraits was part of the traveling group exhibition 'The World of Frida' in the United States until 2022. Further, from 2024-2027 his short ‘Carte Blanche’ will be screened in the elevators of citizenM, Austin, US.