Ruben Carrasco & Rustam Qbic “Backwards Future”

Ruben Carrasco & Rustam QBic

“Backwards Future”

In May two artist from different continents will enter the dialogue at Pretty Portal to discuss about the future of mankind. In their images, Mexican Artist Ruben Carrasco and Russian artist Rustam Qbik tell stories of space shamans, spiritual travellers exploring a paradise like world – and astronauts leaving their sinking spaceship behind, to reconnect in a gravityless surrounding.
Reality built on the human condition, myths, our interaction with nature, how we modify it, and the cultural development of hybrid societies typical of the modern world.
Both artist share the idea of a fragile world and of humans depending on it. Their approch is very sensitive, showing hope and positivity, but also the need to transform from the inside.

Rustam QBic was born in 1985 in Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. He studied at the Kazan Art School, worked with illustration, design and graffiti and taught at the Children’s School of Design.
His love for graffiti and creating work in public was quickly complemented by his love for classic painting and it didn’t take long until he replaced the letter based works with surrealist story telling pictures and characters. This new style that blends illustrative elements, surrealist imagery and distinctive color palette was first revealed at his debut solo show in 2013 at the Street Kit Gallery in Moscow.
Highly influenced by life, his family, nature and books, Rustam’s work carry universal messages of love, knowledge and spirituality while constantly developing his visual language and technique. Actively working both on large scale murals and canvases, he participated in urban art events in Russia, Norway, Switzerland, USA, Australia, New Zealand etc, as well as in charity auctions alongside Swoon, Phlegm, Faile, Sandra Chevrier and many others.

Ruben Carrasco was born and raised in Mexico, where he studied at the Institute of Visual Arts. Since then he has continued his studies at the Anahuac University in Cancun, Mexico, and later at McGill University and at Dawson College in Montreal, Canada. In addition to his development as an artist, he has also worked as a tattoo artist, set designer, muralist, photographer, graphic- and digital-designer. His style can be discribed as figurative and narrative. It is inspired by classical imagery of roman and greek statues as well as indian ethnics and modern popsurrealism. This exceptional mix gives Ruben the space to create surrealistic worlds, where he experiments with his perception of modern times.
A world traveler, Ruben has lived throughout Europe and America working and exhibiting in several countries. Currently, he lives in Montreal, where he has collaborated with the General Consulate of Mexico as a jury member of the Art Exhibitions Evaluation Committee for “Espacio México”. In addition, Ruben founded the artists international collective named “5 wolves no pigs” and co-founded the FIAP and IPAF art festivals.

„Backwards future“

Ruben Carrasco (Mex)
Rustam QBic (Rus)

Opening reception 10th of May
Show 13.5. – 14.6.
Monday to Friday, 11am – 7pm
and by appointment

Pretty Portal
Brunnentrasse 12
40223 Düsseldorf