Dresden-born urban artist Robert Matzke, better known under his alias Rookie, shows himself inspired by surrealism just as much as by comics, punk music and pop culture. Rooted in the graffiti scene he has, nevertheless, continuously extended his range of forms and motives over the years. Today he divides his artistic activities between his studio and the streets of Hamburg and Prague. He uses both oil and acryl paint as well as spray cans thus uniting the styles of a classical painter and a graffiti artist. The wide range of materials used is also reflected in his works’ content. He not only paints animals and landscapes but also frequently designs grotesque-gloomy scenarios saturated with all kinds of references from art history and pop culture. His bizarre works are of an unmistakably surreal aesthetics whose irony knows how to entertain just as much as how to provoke the spectator. At this year’s CityLeaks Festival Rookie designed a massive wall in Nippes. Source: cityleaks-festival.com/rookie/
