Robin Rhode. Promenade. 2008

When I look at this image, a number of things stand out. Firstly there is a man interacting with a piece of wall art although he is also a part of the wall art itself. There are a large number of primary shapes 'triangles' within the image of which many of them point downwards, forcing the eye to look down at what the man is doing. The man seems to be frozen in time but yet in a state of movement as if fleeing from the impending triangles / icicles, which are about to come crashing to the ground. There is a sense of coldness to this image due to the crisp white triangles against a grey backdrop ending with a strip of white at the base, almost as if it is a picture from a cold winters day. However the colours are diffused giving this image a cold but soft feel. In looking at the composition, the top of the image is more heavily weighted than the base of the image due to multiple textured shapes uniting as a design. The man as he is dressed in black however does even out this heaviness in the top as he stands out in the image as a 3 dimensional figure as opposed to a flat design. I particularly like this image as it does remind me of Banksy's work and is similar to street art / graffiti although Robin Rhode is taking it one step further by introducing a human element in a participatory way. What I can appreciate about Banksy's and Rhode's work is that they are progressive artists, exploring an art form and giving it new meanings