Tabor Robak (born May 31, 1986) is an American

Contemporary Artist Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

working in

New Media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

, living in Paris, France. Robak is primarily known for his trailblazing

digital art Digital art refers to any artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process, or more specifically computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960s, various name ...

practice, multi-channel

video installation Video installation is a contemporary art form that combines video technology with installation art, making use of all aspects of the surrounding environment to affect the audience. Tracing its origins to the birth of video art in the 1970s, it has ...

s and

generative art Generative art refers to art that in whole or in part has been created with the use of an autonomous system. An autonomous system in this context is generally one that is non-human and can independently determine features of an artwork that w ...

works. Robak's work has been exhibited and collected internationally at renowned institutions such as

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

Serpentine Serpentine may refer to: Shapes * Serpentine shape, a shape resembling a serpent * Serpentine curve, a mathematical curve * Serpentine, a type of riding figure Science and nature * Serpentine subgroup, a group of minerals * Serpentinite, a ...

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited ar ...

Albright Knox Albright may refer to: * Albright (surname) * Albright, Alberta, Canada * Albright, West Virginia, United States * Albright College, a liberal arts college located in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States * Albright–Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New ...

, and Migros Museum. In 2014, Robak was named in Forbes’ 30 under 30 in Art. Robak has guest lectured MFA students at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and co-taught an MFA course on real time 3D at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

describes Robak as a "prodigy of digital effects" and "the most talented and interesting artist using

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great deal ...

today."

Early life and education

Tabor Robak was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

. He began working freelance as a

photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in ras ...

editor at the age of 13, before earning a BFA from

Pacific Northwest College of Art The Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is an art school of Willamette University and is located in Portland, Oregon. Established in 1909, the art school grants Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and graduate degrees including the Master of Fine ...

in Portland, Oregon. After earning his degree in 2010, Robak moved to New York City and began participating in group shows internationally at places such as

MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, the ...

, Rhizome, Thaddeus Ropac, and the

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

Biennale before his first solo exhibition at

Team Gallery Team Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, with an additional project space in Venice, Los Angeles, California. It was founded by José Freire and Lisa Ruyter in 1996. Team has represented s ...

in 2013.

Career and work

2008-2012: Early career

During college, Robak began incorporating digital tools into his practice and uploading his work to his website and sites like

tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a ...

to connect with the growing community of

net artist upright=1.3, "Simple Net Art Diagram", a 1997 work by Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden Internet art (also known as net art) is a form of new media art distributed via the Internet. This form of art circumvents the traditional dominance of the phy ...

s. Robak's early works consisted of 3D interactive environments, to be accessed on the artist's website. These pieces, which the artist described as having a "desktop screensaver aesthetic," sought to isolate digital space as a fact, an abstracted, alternate reality. Many of Robak's works during this period were featured on Rhizome including his first online piece, ''Reality CPU'', along with works such as ''Digital Spirituality'', ''Carbon'' and ''Mansion''. In 2011 Robak formed ''HDBOYZ'' with fellow artists and friends, Alex-Kelly Hoffman,

Ryder Ripps Ryder Ripps (born July 7, 1986) is an American conceptual artist, programmer, and creative director. Early life and education Born in New York City to a Jewish family, Ryder Ripps is a son of artist Rodney Ripps and designer Helene Verin. Hi ...

, Aaron David Ross and

Colin Self Colin E Self (born 1941 in Rackheath, Norfolk) is an English Pop Artist, whose work has addressed the theme of Cold War politics. As a student at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1961 to 1963 Colin Self received encouragement for his drawing ...

. Dubbed by

DIS Magazine DIS is a collaborative project based in New York City. It was founded in 2010 by Lauren Boyle, Solomon Chase, Marco Roso, David Toro, Nick Scholl, Patrik Sandberg and Samuel Adrian Massey, and publishes ''DIS Magazine'', a twist on a lifestyle an ...

as "the first internet boy band," they performed five songs including ''Photoshopped'' and ''HDMI in Love?'' at

during the closing night of Ryan Trecartin’s solo show. In 2011, Robak designed and animated a music video in collaboration with artist and musician Fatima Al Qadari, for her song, ''Vatican Vibes.'' The video created a “visual analogy between the Vatican’s 'centuries-old mechanisms of control over people' and video gamers’ “godlike power over populations." The video premiered at the

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sch ...

and toured internationally from 2011-2013. In 2012, Robak created a downloadable interactive virtual environment for Gatekeeper’s album, EXO which was set to the music and doubled as the band’s tour visuals.

2013-2019: Breakthrough and critical success

In 2013, Robak made his solo show debut at

in New York City, entitled, ''“Next-Gen Open Beta.”''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

described the show as, "visually breathtaking" with "painstakingly detailed environments that make as strong a case for technological accelerationism as they do for the somewhat old-world values of craftsmanship and painterly illusionism” and with imagery as “alienating as it is immersive”

The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...

called the exhibition "one of the major events of the season" both because of the quality of the work and because it was "signaling igital art'snewfound acceptance by big-league galleries like Team. Xenix, was later acquired by the

. In 2015, Robak exhibited his second solo show at

entitled, ''Fake Shrimp''. The show featured 4 CGI works and received wide critical acclaim.

Roberta Smith Roberta Smith (born 1948) is co-chief art critic of ''The New York Times'' and a lecturer on contemporary art. She is the first woman to hold that position. Early life Born in 1948 in New York City and raised in Lawrence, Kansas. Smith studied ...

reviewed the exhibition in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, praising Robak's virtuosity, his dazzling visuality, and "his meshing of high and low; digital and labor-intensive; art and advertising." Lloyd Wise from

described the show as “

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for recreational purposes. The desired ...

for the eye,” “sparkling and synthetic, color-splashed and sumptuous, gloriously seamless and refined." Wise described Robak’s mastery of digital tools as having a “next-level skill set of a

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

dubbed Robak, "Pixelangelo" in reference to level of detail and the labor intensive process required in producing the show, noting that while the imagery was evocative of video games, the work was "exponentially more elaborate." ''Where’s My Water?'' was acquired by the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

in 2017. In 2016, Robak presented his third solo show, ''Sunflower Seed,'' at Team Gallery’s Venice Beach location in Los Angeles. The exhibition was also shown that summer in Sweden at Johan Berggren Gallery in Malmo. Critics praised Robak for having “choreographed a masterly and complex ballet of pixels” and noted the imagery was “meditative, whimsical, mesmerizing and almost impossible to walk away from.” The work was a thematic departure, with Robak exploring scenes from the natural world. ''Skypad'' was later added to the permanent collection of AkzoNobel Art Foundation, in Amsterdam. In 2017, Robak exhibited his fourth solo show, ''Quantaspectra, at''

in New York City. Named for quantification via the color system, the show featured seven single channel works, each representing a different color and exploring different themes in a universe creation. In 2019, Robak presented his 6th solo show, ''MENTAL,'' at vonammon co in Washington, DC. Arguably, his “most experimental exhibition to date," Robak explores “the bankruptcy of branding” and the “dystopian divide etween mind and bodythat may be deepened by art.” The show received positive reviews with

describing Robak’s mastery of the technology as "operating like a dark-web

Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super hi ...

.” The publication also noted Robak’s “critique is more specifically attuned to how capitalism elicits feelings of frustration and ambivalence in the field of contemporary art.

Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

magazine compared the works to

vanitas A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-known are ''v ...

that “impart a loss of permanence and control, while paradoxically, signaling our shared vulnerability.” In 2019, Robak exhibited ''Xenix'', at the

, as part of the group show, ''New Order: Art and Technology in the 21st Century.'' The show was curated with work from the museum’s permanent collection and organized by

Michelle Kuo Michelle Kuo (born 1977 or 1978) is an American curator, writer, and art historian. Since 2018, Kuo has been a curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art. She was previously editor-in-chief of ''Artforum'' magazine starting in ...

called Robak’s work, “one of the most significant” in the exhibition. In 2019, Robak exhibited, ''Flatearth.io,'' his first solo show in the Netherlands, at Upstream Gallery in Amsterdam. Critics called Robak, “the most compelling artist today working with

computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The image ...

” and praised his ability to elevate “the craftsmanship of CGI to the standing of intellectual art.”

2020-present: Current projects

In December 2020, Robak presented, ''Megafauna'', an 80 screen video installation commissioned by the

for the museum’s Triennial, which featured an “immersive installation of computer-generated animations that surround the viewer in an entire gallery, and was “the biggest work he has ever made.” In 2020, Robak's work was featured in group exhibitions worldwide including, ''Better off Online,'' presented by KÖNIG GALERIE at

Ars Electronica Ars Electronica Linz GmbH is an Austrian cultural, educational and scientific institute active in the field of new media art, founded in Linz in 1979. It is based at the Ars Electronica Center (AEC), which houses the Museum of the Future, in th ...

; ''Art in the Age of Anxiety'' at

Sharjah Art Foundation The Sharjah Art Foundation ( ar, مؤسسة الشارقة للفنون) is a contemporary art and cultural foundation based in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, founded in 2009 by Hoor Al Qasimi, daughter of Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, a me ...

in Dubai; ''Open World: Video Games and Contemporary Art'', at the

Currier Museum of Art The Currier Museum of Art is an art museum in Manchester, New Hampshire, in the United States. It features European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Mon ...

. In 2021, Robak created ''Butterfly Room: Special Edition'', for the group exhibition, ''World on a Wire'', presented by Rhizome as part of a collaboration with

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai As ...

in Beijing. In 2021, Robak's work was included in institutional group shows internationally including, ''How to Win at Photography'' as

Fotomuseum Winterthur Fotomuseum Winterthur is a museum of photography in Winterthur, Switzerland. History The museum was founded in 1993 and is dedicated to photography as art form and document, and as a representation of reality. Fotomuseum Winterthur is an art ...

in Switzerland, and ''Reflections beyond the Surface'' at AkzoNobel Art Foundation in the Netherlands. In 2022, Robak had a series of notable achievements, including the acquisition of his time-reactive procedurally generated artwork, ''Colorwheel'', by the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude ...

in New York. He also experienced success in the

NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the b ...

realm with his work, ''Colorspace'', being selected for the curated collection on Art Blocks and selling out within an hour of its release. Additionally, Robak's 2013 artwork, ''Free-to-Play'', was showcased at the ''Play - Video Game Art and Beyond'' exhibition held at the

Palace of Venaria The Palace of Venaria (Italian: Reggia di Venaria Reale) is a former royal residence and gardens located in Venaria Reale, near Turin in the Piedmont region in northern Italy. It is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, included in t ...

in Italy. In 2023, ''Colorwheel,'' was featured in the exhibition ''Behind The Screens'', at the CODA Museum, in the Netherlands. Later that year Robak gained representation by Super Dakota gallery in Brussels, Belgium. Additionally, Robak's work, ''Drinking Bird Universe'', was included in the book ''Internet_Art: From the Birth of the Web to the Rise of NFTs'' by

Omar Kholeif Omar Kholeif is an Egyptian-born artist, curator, writer and editor. Kholeif's curatorial practice focuses on art that intersects with the internet, as well as works of art from emerging geographic territories that have yet to be seen in the mainstr ...

and published by

Phaidon Phaidon is an ancient Greek name that may refer to: * Phaedo of Elis, philosopher *'' Phaedo'', one of Plato's dialogues named after Phaedo of Elis who appears in it *Phaidon Press, a publisher *''Phaidon Design Classics ''Phaidon Design Classics' ...

Film and fashion

Robak programmed and designed the animated sequences in the 2015 film, #Horror, directed by

Tara Subkoff Tara Lyn Subkoff (born December 10, 1972) is an American actress, conceptual artist, director, and fashion designer. Subkoff made her film debut in the thriller '' When the Bough Breaks'' (1994) opposite Martin Sheen, and has had supporting roles ...

, curated by

Urs Fischer Urs Fischer (born 2 May 1973) is a Swiss-born contemporary visual artist living in New York City. Fischer’s practice includes sculpture, installation and photography. Education and early career Born to two doctors as the second of two children ...

and starring

Chloë Sevigny Chloë Stevens Sevigny (, born November 18, 1974) is an American actress, model, filmmaker and fashion designer. Known for her work in independent films, often appearing in controversial or experimental features, Sevigny is the recipient of se ...

and

Natasha Lyonne Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein ( ; born April 4, 1979) is an American actress, director, writer, and producer. She is known for playing Nicky Nichols on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she r ...

. The film premiered at the

. Robak’s work, ''Mini Jumbo,'' a miniature Jumbotron sculpture from his show ''MENTAL,'' was showcased at Maison Margiela's concept store in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

in as part of the first series of installations at the experimental boutique. In 2019, Robak created a custom video loop of a cityscape set to unreleased tracks by

DJ Hell Helmut Josef Geier (born 6 September 1962), known professionally as DJ Hell, is a German DJ. Biography 1970s and 1980s DJ Hell described his musical beginnings in an interview with '' The European'', telling them “I was socialized with ...

for

Balenciaga Balenciaga SA ( ) is a luxury fashion house founded in 1919 by the Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga in San Sebastian, Spain. Balenciaga produces ready-to-wear, footwear, handbags, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to ...

Artistic process and themes

Robak's work utilizes the visual vocabulary of modern video games, advertising and animated film, to examine societal perceptions of the digital and the real. His work often deals with the tension between human nature and technology, exploring themes such as,

late capitalism Late capitalism, late-stage capitalism, or end-stage capitalism is a term first used in print by German economist Werner Sombart around the turn of the 20th century. In the late 2010s, the term began to be used in the United States and Canada t ...

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informatio ...

, trauma, domestic life, weapons, violence,

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist human ...

, healthcare and privacy. Robak commonly employs several

computer programs A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to execute. Computer programs are one component of software, which also includes documentation and other intangible components. A computer progra ...

including

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a ...

Adobe After Effects Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application developed by Adobe Inc., and used in the post-production process of film making, video games and television production. Among other things, After ...

, and

Cinema 4D Cinema 4D is a 3D software suite developed by the German company Maxon. Overview As of R21, only one version of Cinema 4D is available. It replaces all previous variants, including BodyPaint 3D, and includes all features of the past 'Studio' ...

to create multi-channel

procedurally generated In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated assets and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. In ...

animations, and electronic sculpture. He often incorporates novel technology including transparent television monitors, mini

Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi () is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom. The Raspberry Pi project originally leaned towards the promotion of teaching basic ...

computers, and builds custom

PCs A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or techn ...

for his procedurally generative works. In his

work, Robak programs software to create algorithmic visual compositions that mimic the gestures of a painter's brush stroke. He embraces generative code to produce those fleeting, but perfect moments akin to the serendipity of nature’s rhythms, believing the open-ended quality of this process presents more opportunities to replicate these moments than deliberate design. Critics have referred to Robak’s proficiency with the software as “virtually unmatched” in the Art World, and praised Robak for bringing “an old-school sense of integrity and craft—even disciplinary rigor—to his digital practice, “exploring the medium of CGI the way Michelangelo did marble." His working method has been described as "fluid, intuitive, and obsessive" creating extremely "detailed and meticulous" images and

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

that can take "months to compose."

Major commissions

In 2014,

Swiss Institute Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art New York (SI) is an independent non-profit contemporary art organization founded in 1986. SI is located at 38 St Marks Pl, the corner of Second Avenue and St Marks Place in the East Village neighborhood of Manhatt ...

commissioned, ''A*'', from Robak for the exhibition, ''The Saint Petersburg Paradox.'' In 2016,

Public Art Fund Public Art Fund is an independent, non-profit arts organization founded in 1977 by Doris C. Freedman. The organization presents contemporary art in New York City's public spaces through a series of highly visible artists' projects, new commissions, ...

commissioned, ''Liquid Demo'' for the 117-by-56-foot, 360 degree LED screen in the Oculus at

Barclays Center Barclays Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association. The ...

, for the exhibition, ''Commercial Break''. In 2017, Robak was commissioned by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

to create an artwork for the 40-foot screen on the façade of their

flagship store A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

5th Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping str ...

The National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

commissioned an 80 screen video installation from Robak for the museum’s 2020 Triennial. In 2021,

and Rhizome commissioned ''Butterfly Room: Special Edition'' for the 50-foot LED video wall at Hyundai Motorstudio in Seoul, South Korea.

Collections

Robak’s work is currently held in the following public collections: * AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands *

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted ...

, Buffalo, NY * Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art at Rollins College at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Winter Park, Florida * DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece *

Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo The Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo is a non-profit contemporary arts institution based in Turin, Italy, founded by arts collector Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in 1995. History In 1995, Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo established the ...

, Turin, Italy * KRC Collection, Amsterdam, Netherlands *

, New York, NY *

Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst The Migros Museum of Contemporary Art (German: Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst) is a museum for contemporary art in Zürich, Switzerland. The museum was founded in 1996 . It is the successor to the Halle für Internationale neue Kunst, which ...

, Zürich, Switzerland *

, New York, NY *

, Melbourne, Australia *

Serpentine Galleries The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery ...

, London, UK *

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

, New York, NY * Yuz Foundation, Jakarta, Indonesia

Exhibitions (selection)

2023 *CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Behind The Screens 2022 *Super Dakota, Brussels, Belgium, ''Liquid Life'' *La Venaria Reale, Venaria Reale, Italy, Play - Video Game Art and Beyond *The Photographers' Gallery, London, UK, How to Win at Photography 2021 *AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Reflections beyond the Surface *Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Open World: Video Games & Contemporary Art *Rhizome/Hyundai Motorstudio Seoul, Seoul, South Korea, World on a Wire (curated by Michael Connor) *Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland, How to Win at Photography2020 *MoCA Westport, Westport, Connecticut, World Peace (curated by Todd von Ammon *Ars Electronica/König Galerie, Linz, Austria, Better Off Online (curated by Anika Meier) *Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, Art in the Age of Anxiety (curated by Omar Kholeif) *Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire, Open World: Video Games & Contemporary Art (curated by Theresa Bembnister) 2019 *Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam, FlatEarth.io (solo) *Von Ammon Co, Washington D.C, Mental (solo) *Jeffrey Deitch & Gagosian Gallery, Miami Beach, The Extreme Present *Von Ammon Co, Washington, Focus Group *Akron Art Museum, Ohio, Open World: Video Games & Contemporary Art *Somerset House, Crossing the Borders of Photography *Museum of Modern Art, New York, New Order: Art and Technology in the 21st Century (curated by Michelle Kuo) 2018 *Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, I Was Raised on the Internet (curated by Omar Kholeif) *Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam, Live and Let Live *ARCOmadrid, Madrid, Spain, Ryan McGinley and Tabor Robak Golinelli Art and Science Center, Bologna, Italy, UNPREDICTABLE 2017 *Team Gallery, New York, NY, Quantaspectra (solo) *Microsoft Culture Wall, New York, NY, Sundial (solo) *Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California, Botanica (curated by Todd von Ammon) *Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY, Public Art Fund: Commercial Break *Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal, Utopia/Dystopia *Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Human/Digital: A Symbiotic Love Affair *University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, Painting in the Network: Algorithm and Appropriation 2016 *Johan Berggren Gallery, Malmö, Sweden, Sunflower Seed (solo) *Team (bungalow), Los Angeles, CA, Sunflower Seed (solo) *Yuz Museum Shanghai, Shanghai, China, OVERPOP: New Art from Yuz Collection and beyond (Curated by Jeffrey Deitch & Karen Smith) *Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Remix: Creative Power from the Metropolis 2015 *Team Gallery, New York, NY, Fake Shrimp (solo) *Serpentine Galleries, London, UK, Special Projects: Drinking Bird (Seasons) 2nd Beijing Photo Biennial, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China, Unfamiliar Asia (selected by Yuko Hasegawa) *Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris, France, Artists and Architecture Migros Museum, Zurich, Switzerland, Toys Redux - On Play and Critique (curated by Raphael Gygax & Judith Welter) *Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany, Playing Future (curated by Dörte Zbikowski) *Max Hetzler Gallery, Berlin, Germany, Open Source: Art at the Eclipse of Capitalism (curated by Lisa Schiff, Leslie Fritz and Eugenio Re Rebaudengo) *Ellis King, Dublin, Ireland, Constructed Culture Sounds Like Conculture (curated by Samuel Leuenberger) *Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, Screen Play: Life in an Animated World Artuner, Palazzo Capris, Turin, Italy, Michael Armitage, Paul Kneale, Tabor Robak (curated by Eugenio Re Rebaudengo) 2014 *Pablo’s Birthday, New York, NY, LIKENEWLANDSCAPE *Galerie Andreas Huber, Vienna, Austria, Instrumental Assistance (curated by Kristina Scepanski) *Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Shifting Optics Barbican Centre, London, UK, Digital Revolution *Swiss Institute Contemporary Art, New York, NY, The St. Petersburg Paradox (curated by Simon Castets) *Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany, Smart New World (curated by Elodie Evers and Magdalena Holzhey)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robak, Tabor Artists from New York (state) 1986 births New media artists Pacific Northwest College of Art alumni Artists from Portland, Oregon Living people 21st-century American artists 21st-century American male artists