Rafael Parra Toro
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Occupation: Experimental Visual Artist / Engineer
Rafael is an Argentinean-Venezuelan experimental artist who dedicates himself to optical and kinetic geometrical art and design. His visual work has been featured at Pictoplasma’s Academy in Berlin, Germany.
Rafael’s work is highly influence by an array of geometric shapes and exhibits a blend of black and white to bright and energetic color palettes. His geometric style often consists of gestalt-driven shapes that create interesting character faces and patterns. In addition to his visual experimental work, Rafael is known to be the founder of Musictoons and has helped companies like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon develop fun and dynamic casual games for their target market. When asked about why he has chosen art as his profession, Rafael stated:
“I chose to be an artist to be free. For me, employment is the 21st century’s slavery and there are few ways to get rid of it, so I chose investigation…investigation that today I apply on artistic manifestation but in the future may be something else. Art is anything that makes you change your way of thinking and I want people to question things when they see my art. I want to encourage them to be free as I am.“
Rafael’s work has been publicized in various print and web art publications like Inkygoodness, Creative Bloq, Creative Review, Fubiz, Ridyn, and Mitteschon Magazine. Recently, Rafael’s independent project, The Pop OP, has received a crowd funding green light by Kickstarter. To learn more about Rafael’s Pop On Op interactive animation book, visit his kickstarter page.
If you would like to contact Rafael, visit his website or email him at rafaelparr@yahoo.com.