Ruben Ubiera
Ruben Ubiera, born on October 19, 1975, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is a contemporary artist renowned for his neo-figurative style. His artistic approach is characterized by a dynamic utilization […]
“I paint in a style I like to call Postgraffism – an evolution of graffiti. I was classically trained, in private school, in my country of origin, the Dominican Republic. Moved to the South Bronx in my teens, saw graffiti in its rawest form. It’s evolution. And my life, and style, changed. I have always been an artist, all my life, but I became a full time an artist after my mother passed away. I was a Creative director already, but she would always tell me I was going to be an artist. When cancer took her, I realized I never painted anything for her, so I started immediately. Her death gave birth to my art. I believe in two forces that drive the world: love and fear. I try to Paint Love. Love conquers all. I usually pick a palette that I like and freestyle in the location, depending on the wall given to me. Creating installations instead than just a mural. My work ends up being unique to the location where it ends at. In this stage, I’m creating a colorful new body of work that is open to all, from the child to the old, showing all the colors in the rainbow. I illustrate part figurative realism, part colorful child-like energy, with a lot of freestyle painting involved. Creating from what i see in my immediate surroundings or what the area stands for. I try seeing one image from many angles at the same time. Breaking/disecting the subject and re-constructing it to create something new, ambiguous and open to interpretation. Contrast in concept and execution.”
“My work it’s an evolution from the urban art that we have accustomed to see on an everyday basis. Not graffiti. Postgraffism. Postgraffism is – if I may describe it, an new kind of urban art. An eloquent evolution of what’s happening on the streets with graffiti and the like. The beauty (or the perception of beauty) changes with time. It evolves. So does our appreciation for what is around us.
Postgraffism artists are the product of this new era: The neo-illustrators and designers that are experimenting with new mediums (and media) and have been influenced by graffiti, in one form or the other.In Post graffism Lettering no longer becomes the focus. Concept and technique, can control, are what’s key. Artists who are taking the new “street art” mediums to new plateaus (conceptually and graphically).
Just the fact that a spray can is a custom tool of trade, speaks volumes of how new and bold this movement is. After all, the spray can is a product of the 20th-21st century. A machine. And after graffiti: a marriage of man, soul and machine.I would sum it up as Postgraffism is the evolution of graffiti art as a whole – a more thought out, formal, planned an elevated realm of urban derived creativity and visual experimentation, in which concept tries to steal the show from the technique, thus, balancing the end result.”
Ruben Ubiera, born on October 19, 1975, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is a contemporary artist renowned for his neo-figurative style. His artistic approach is characterized by a dynamic utilization […]