Open Rhode

Imagine if Buster Keaton had worn a beanie and studied at Goldsmiths College and you get something of an idea about the works of Robin Rhode. Over on the upper floor of the Hayward Gallery, high above the temporary mausoleum dedicated to Andy Warhol, his first major UK exhibition showcases a visual intelligence, wit, and pathos shared with that enduringly sublime icon of silent cinema.

Like Keaton, Rhode's theatrical works utilise a subversion of medium, but the South African-born artist is more drawn to contemporary political notions of public space and the ephemeral by taking the tradition of fine art into the urban environment and allowing the articulation of the passage of time to interrupt the 'frozen moment of art' (to borrow Hayward director Ralph Rugoff's words).

So not only does Rhode's performance/creation become an intrinsic part of the work itself, but also the Keaton-esque interaction with the two dimensional chalk and charcoal drawings he produces. In series' of photographs and films Rhode is seen drawing his own jazz trio instruments upon a wall and then enthusiastically acting out a musical performance ('The Score'); drawing a candle and gratefully warming himself from the resultant creation ('Candle'); drawing a payphone on a pair of warehouse doors and cunningly making a phone-call ('Nightcall'); performing yo-yo tricks with a chalk representation of its complex movement etched on a concrete wall ('Untitled, Yo-Yo'); difficultly hauling a chalk-drawn anchor along a slipway wall ('Untitled, Anchor'); spinning a vinyl classical record on a chalk-drawn turn-table ('Wheels of Steel'); and, photographed against the ground, illusionary waving a flag composed of bricks ('Stone Flag'). Rhode implicitly comments on street culture, race, and poverty through these playful works with a real sense of ingenuity and freshness. And though Rhode himself abjures such comparisons, as the curator Stephanie Rosenthal aptly puts it, 'he manhandles this knowledge like a light-footed clown with gigantic shoes'.

In more recent works Rhode employs more abstract chalk interpolations into his work (drawing on Russian Constructivism), such as in 'Promenade' which unfolds to passages from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. In form it resembles a beautiful HD stills-projected ballet, in which a solitary masked and suited figure (Rhode himself) is entranced and then contained by diamond-like forms which spread and retreat on the wall behind. Its origins lay in a commission for the Lincoln Center, but its seductive power as a visual rendering of musical structure has thankfully led Rhode to exhibit it more widely. Achingly sublime, it takes the viewer far beyond the quotidian and is easily one of the finest contemporary works of the year.

However, if one thinks Rhode may be moving away from his political roots, a companion show at White Cube called Through The Gate is there to reassure us: exploring the troubling heritage of his native South Africa in pieces such as 'Fast Medium' where an arm made out of charred poplar rises out of a charcoal pile in the act of bowling a cricket ball. Rhode's sense of invention and witty flair shows no sign of letting up. Coming after a rather lacklustre year for contemporary art, these two exhibitions powerfully announce the bold arrival of a major international talent.


Robin Rhode: Who Saw Who
Hayward Gallery,
Southbank Centre,
Belvedere Road,
London SE1 8XX

7th October - 7th December 2008:
Mon-Sun: 10am - 6pm; Fri until 10pm.

Includes entry to Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms


Robin Rhode: Through The Gate
White Cube,
48 Hoxton Square,
London N1 6PB

26th November - 10th January 2009:
Tue-Sat: 10am - 6pm.