Patrick Rubinstein

Patrick Rubinstein was born in Paris in 1960, the year the Beatles first got together in England, and when Brigitte Bardot and Jackie Kennedy’s America were all the rage in France. This cultural influence captured the Rubinsteins as well, but as part of a much larger picture. The family had a voracious appetite for everything happening around the world, savoring each instant and living life to the fullest. Art offered an outlet, while day-to-day life for Patrick was immersed in tenderness. This was the context for much of Patrick’s upbringing, framed by his mother’s passion for film and his father’s knack for experimenting with a range of pursuits. At the age of five, Patrick was first introduced to gouache, and then at eight to Super 8 film. Optical illusions held an important place in the family’s creative output. “Head towards the tree and stop when you’re standing behind it.” Once the child’s movements were captured on film, a cut would be made with another actor taking his place, and the shooting would begin again. Patrick’s father was constantly dreaming up little vignettes. The whole family played along, expanding the story, making suggestions, in a collaborative whirlwind of creativity. ​In 2006, Patrick lost his father, a watershed experience for him that instantly brought to mind the work of Yaacov Agam, a leading pioneer of kinetic art. Grabbing a photo, Patrick folded it carefully, showing his own daughters the visual effect this created. Memories began bubbling to the surface. He began thinking of the portraits he wanted to recast, the pop art that had always inspired him as a child, and the digital age that was opening up new opportunities in the early 2000’s. ​The technical challenges of 3D artwork were not negligible, but if he could surmount them, Patrick reasoned he could rediscover the infinite freedom of creation, and with it reawaken interest in the work he had done as a young man. After three years of dogged perseverance, at times passing through what seemed like nothing less than the twelve labors of Hercules, victory was at hand. Patrick Rubinstein had perfected his technique, now able to work in any format whatsoever, even monumental ones. He surrounded himself with assistants whom he trained in his art. All that was left was to create. Patrick Rubinstein’s pioneering kinetic artworks pay tribute to the most renowned icons from the second half of the 20th century and offer an extraordinary viewing adventure. Using aspects of Surrealism, Street, Pop Art and Renaissance, he blends creativity, innovation and science to give each work an animated and perpetually self-renewing aspect. Born in Paris in 1960, Patrick grew up in the shadow of artists such as Victor Vasarely, Bridget Riley and Yaacov Agam, leading figures in the Op (optical) Art and Kinetic Art movements, whose work was introduced to him by his father. He was fascinated by the way they combined geometric lines and shapes with eye-popping color to create the illusion of movement and play with the limits of the human eye’s perception, and they became the primary influence on his own artistic evolution. However, while their artwork was subtle, disorientating and abstract, Patrick’s is more intuitive and attuned to popular culture and the stories of the day, making his images accessible and highly engaging to a contemporary audience; like Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana before him, he believes that art should provoke a universal emotion. Patrick meticulously sculpts and refines his artworks like a goldsmith and the outcome is mesmerizing. He works with what he calls the double principle, which depicts the fusion of two images designed to blend into one, and the triple principle in which three images are each depicted individually, one centrally and two laterally. His avant-garde technique is not digital, but uses layering and angling to create the ‘kinetic’ effect, allowing visual variations when the spectator moves around the work. The viewer can therefore change what they see, and decide on the speed, the angles and the approach, so every interactive viewing experience is personal and unique. Patrick’s work is held in prestigious collections all over the world, including that of King Mohamed IV of Morocco, a number of fashion designers, French football and tennis heroes Kylian Mbappé and Yannick Noah, as well as several other international sport stars. With its polished and defined composition and interesting, sometimes playful, subject matter, Patrick’s work makes a strong but universally appealing statement in any interior space. His list of high profile collaborators includes world renowned architect and designer Philippe Starck. Patrick Rubinstein is a French contemporary artist, famous for his diverse style that represents a mixture of paintings, photos, images, and portraits, As someone who works on the concept of the opt art his creation are actually optical illusions and games that offer multidimensional views, depending on the angle.