Jeff Robb
UK, born 1965
Artist Statement
I’m continually inspired by the nude female form. It’s something that has, of course been worked on by artists through the ages, but the countless permutations of body/composition, facial expression and light (after you strip away clothing) provide a both a technical challenge and fascinating problem for me to solve. I’m also inspired by the medium in which I work; Lenticular Photography. It’s a complicated, expensive process but it’s one that captures the world and its subjects in a strange, wonderful blend of photography and sculpture.
If everyone looking at my work was, even for an instant, transported into a liminal state, a state of in-between-ness, I’d be delighted. Liminality is a special place of temporary disorientation (of one’s sensory threshold). The medium of lenticular photography is perfect for seeding this condition - it is a 2 dimensional print with 3 dimensional illusory properties, so for a short time the audience’s perception of reality is suspended. This period of suspension is, I believe important for our minds to experience, especially when we, in the Western world, generally live in a spiritual vacuum. We need magical inspiration in our lives and I’d like to share a sense of this in my work. - Jeff Robb 2019
About
Since graduating with Distinction from the Royal College of Art in 1992 with a Masters degree in Fine Art Holography, Robb has continually made art, ceaselessly experimenting with three-dimensional imaging. Shortly after graduating, he was invited to submit a landscape work in to the V&A museum’s permanent collection, the first ever hologram artwork to be accessioned by the museum. Robb’s work now features in museums and private collections around the world.
Robb is currently best known for his lenticular photographic work focusing on the female nude and abstract forms in space, which he makes in series. The artist has recently begun to produce bronze sculptures working with the female nude, a subject familiar to him, using cutting edge modelling technology combined with historic casting techniques. This radical development is typical of Robb’s open experimental approach in making art, using any combination of tools and technology available to him.
In parallel to developing lines of enquiry around the nude and abstraction in his lenticular work, Robb is beginning to work on projects which investigate how we experience sound, and large-scale kinetic installations for public spaces, museums and galleries. For many, these new directions will at first seem uncharacteristic. Those who are familiar with Robb’s approach and what drives him as an artist will understand the significance of each project for him in testing possibilities with the lenticular medium, and creating new immersive experiences using three-dimensional imaging and cutting edge technology. This kind of experimental lenticular installation work is completely unchartered territory for artists.
Jeff Robb works in a variety of media including lenticular photography, painting, bronze and silver cast sculpture, reflection and transmission holography, photography, film, laser light and sound installations. The galleries here are representations of lenticular photography that use a vertical lens array to present a stereo pair of images to the eyes. They are 3D pictures without glasses. The screen images cannot convey the visual impact of the medium, so animations are used to simulate their 3D nature. While only eight images have been chosen for each gallery, there are many more images available in each series. Please visit or contact the gallery to see the full body of work. Jeff Robb is shown in galleries and art fairs around the world.
