Rafael Rozendaal

Biography

Rafael Rozendaal is a Dutch-Brazilian artist based in New York who has spent more than two decades treating the internet itself as a canvas. Since the early 2000s he has created a large body of standalone websites, each built around a single simple interaction or moving image, ranging from playful animations to abstract, meditative visual experiences. Rather than treating these websites as secondary documentation of a physical practice, Rozendaal considers them equal in status to his sculptures, tapestries, prints, and installations, allowing the same idea to move fluidly between a browser window and a gallery wall. His installation work often translates the light, color, and movement of his web-based pieces into physical space, using projected light, mirrors, and reflective materials to turn a screen-based experience into an architectural one. Beyond his visual practice, Rozendaal has also been an advocate for new models of owning and collecting digital art, exploring how ephemeral, web-native works can be bought, sold, and preserved in ways appropriate to their medium. His work has been exhibited at major institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Stedelijk Museum, the Nam June Paik Art Center in Seoul, and the Venice Biennale. Rozendaal continues to expand his practice through lectures, writing, and new websites, remaining one of the most consistently recognized artists working with the internet as a primary artistic medium rather than simply a tool for distribution.