Tony Robbin, 1979-1 (USF Snapshot), 1979, acrylic on canvas, 56 in. x 70 in., Collection of William D. and Norma Canelas Roth
Tony Robbin has been exploring the depiction of four-dimensional objects and spatial configurations with paintings and sculptures for the past 35 years. The resulting work appears as complex layers of geometric forms animated by patterns of color. The exhibition, Tony Robbin: A Retrospective, including 25 paintings, works on paper, a sculpture and video animations of four-dimensional forms, opens at the Orlando Museum of Art on July 30, 2011. The exhibition will close on October 30, 2011.
Robbin has had over 25 solo exhibitions of his paintings and sculptures since his debut at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1974, and has been included in over 100 group exhibitions in 12 countries. He was a founding member of the Pattern and Decoration movement because of his desire for lyric color and rich pattern.
"Art based on geometry is expected to be dry with only primary colors - who wrote those rules?" Robbin has said.
Robbin's work is based upon scientific research in the fields of geometry, mathematics and physics. He is the author of three books: Fourfield: Computers, Art and the 4th Dimension (1992), Engineering A New Architecture (1996) and Shadows of Reality: The Fourth Dimension in Relativity, Cubism, and Modern Thought (2006). He has lectured to professional organizations and university departments of art, physics, mathematics, computer science, architecture, and engineering in the United States, Europe and Japan.
