Jorge Mañes Rubio

“There is a mystery and power that successful artists, like Jorge Mañes Rubio, possess. This intangible quality is a relentless yet sophisticated drive to accomplish something profound, to make a significant impact, and to bring a mythical vision to life—on a grand scale. It’s an inexorable force that shapes his artistic journey. Jorge recontextualizes the common and overlooked elements of our society, presenting them in a way that deepens our understanding of what we thought we already knew. He does this with a warmth and humor that embraces us, drawing us into a shared experience rather than distancing or diminishing us. There’s a precious and compassionate energy in his art that connects us, making us feel more aware, more human."

—Paul Klein, Klein Artists Works Chicago

Artistic Vision and Practice

Jorge Mañes Rubio creates art that rethinks humanity’s relationship with the universe and all its beings—human, nonhuman, material, and spiritual. His work taps into the intangible power that certain objects and images hold, reframing them as active, living matter—things to be touched, experienced, and ultimately, activated. Each piece is a detailed, material embodiment of thoughts, emotions, and memories, constantly evolving and becoming. His art blurs the boundaries between the ordinary and the extraordinary, offering a mythical lens through which we can see the world.

Crafting New Universes

Based in Amsterdam, Rubio graduated in Design Products from the Royal College of Art in London in 2010. His projects span diverse themes and mediums, from sculptural works to intuitive explorations of space and material. A co-founder of the Design Museum Dharavi and a TED Senior Fellow, he is also a recipient of the S&R Foundation Washington Award. His recent collaboration with the European Space Agency, focusing on the future colonization of the Moon, turned into a thought-provoking TED talk, exemplifying his drive to envision new frontiers.

Global Impact

Jorge’s work has been exhibited globally in prestigious galleries and museums such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul, the Victoria & Albert Museum London, and La Triennale di Milano, among many others. His ability to capture the mystery and movement of life, and to weave rhythm, color, and intuition into his works, makes his creations not only visually captivating but also deeply precious and thought-provoking, urging us to look longer and reflect on the ever-evolving relationship between humanity and the cosmos.