Robin van Arsdol

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Robin van Arsdol (* 1949 in Denison , Iowa ) is an American pop art - artists , critics, curators, collectors and has as an assistant to Joseph Beuys worked.

Life

From 1970 to 1972 van Arsdol taught as a lecturer at Georgetown College in Georgetown , Kentucky . In 1973 he was a substitute professor there, where he completed his art studies with a Bachelor of Arts in the same year before moving to New York to study art history at New York University (NYU) . Also in 1973 he joined the lively New York street art scene . He came to his own art through politically oriented graffiti , which he painted hundreds of times against nuclear armament. As a student, he had his first exhibition in 1974 under the motto "I like America, America likes me". In 1975 he completed his studies with a Master of Arts and taught sculpture at NYU in 1976/77 .

He turned his back on New York three years later and moved to Orlando , Florida. There he opened a gallery . In 1980/81 he was an associate professor at the Valencia Community College in Orlando. In 1995 a series of lectures followed at the Museum for Contemporary Art and Design in San José , the capital of Costa Rica . From 2006 to 2008, he served on the board of trustees of the Orlando Museum of Art.

Works

Around 5,000 documented graffiti by Robin van Arsdol graced the street walls of New York as early as the late 1970s . Today they are sold dearly as street art . He is also known for his bodypainting - or chainsaw performance, in which, for example, he saws a “screaming man”, his trademark, out of a tree trunk.

The "Screaming Man", the central figure in his life's work, is a toothless block of wood with a mohawk. At the very beginning of its creation in 1992 it still had teeth, it was not until 1999 that it left the teeth. The figure ironically points out the differences between the sexes. His speech bubbles with “Why”, “Sorry” or “Be nice” leave a lot of room for interpretation as a metaphor for the relationship between men and women. He symbolically depicts male characteristics in his pictures. This also includes using the color pink , which men rejected as unmanly.

In 2010, at the opening of an exhibition in Pfullendorf , van Arsdol stated that television with its comic series had an influence on the development of his artistic style: his favorite comic figure was Popeye ; the "Screaming Man" has a certain resemblance to Bart Simpson . Humor, symbolism and metaphor are particularly important to him. Politics has also influenced him significantly.

Other recurring motifs are the tulip , which he interprets as a symbol of sensitivity, and the figure of “ Pinocchio ”, which stands for all the little lies men have.

Private

Robin van Arsdol has a son (* 1993). As a devout Christian , he opposes nuclear weapons, criticizes US arms policy and expects the end of the world as a nuclear scenario.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Siegfried Volk: Popart artist presents a “chainsaw performance” . In: Südkurier from May 6, 2010
  2. ↑ a b "My favorite cartoon character was Popeye" . In: Schwäbische Zeitung from May 9, 2010
  3. ↑ The artist uses the chainsaw . In: Schwäbische Zeitung of May 27, 2010
  4. ↑ a b Petra Lanzer: Pop Art is also square . In: Südkurier of May 11, 2010
  5. ↑ a b c Siegfried Volk: An artist with grip on the ground . In: Südkurier from June 15, 2010

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Van Arsdol, Robin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist, critic, curator, and collector
DATE OF BIRTH 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Dension , Iowa