Rob Spence was born in 1966 in Sydney Australia. Since 1999 he has been based in Switzerland where he has become a well-known actor and comedian. However Rob began painting long before he started his career in comedy. As a child he won numerous art prizes and spent six months in art school before changing direction to acting and went on to complete a Bachelor of Creative Arts degree. Subsequently this evolved into one-man mime & comedy shows, which he has since performed successfully on stage & television in over 20 countries.
However art was never far from his thoughts, though taking a back seat to his performance work. During the past five years he has been devoting all his spare time to his artistic creativity and is now set to present this hidden talent to the world.
Rob’s style is a synthesis between Surrealism & Pop art with elements of indigenous Australian art. Taking common objects such as fruit or animals he places them in interesting and strange new contexts. A key element of Rob’s work is the strong contrasting colours, inspired by the Australian landscapes he visited in his youth, and the unique use of spirals which gives each of his paintings it’s own life and movement and is reminiscent of Aboriginal sacred site paintings.
He describes his artistic style as ‘expansionism’, a style that illustrates the energetic connectivity of all things and reminds us that there are no limitations to ideas, creativity, and love. It explores the wondrous side of humanity astounding people with works that are beautiful yet surprising and witty. Rob firmly believes in the ability of art to be a healing and spiritual experience and wants the viewers to leave a gallery with a feeling of lightness & happiness as they do when they walk away from one his comedy shows. He says: “A painting should touch a cord of emotion. Otherwise it’s not interesting. I believe art should have a story behind it.”
Posted on February 27, 2014 by in Living Luzern