Simon Raab

Simon Raab was born in 1952 in Toulouse, France. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University, a Master's in Engineering Physics with a focus in surface physics from Cornell University, and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Waterloo. He co-founded FARO Technologies, a maker of 3D measurement and imaging systems, circa 1981, and served as its CEO until stepping back from the role in 2017.

Raab's art practice centers on Parleau, a patented technique in which multiple layers of colored polymer are applied to a metal substrate and then physically manipulated to produce volumetric, water-like imagery in both wall-mounted works and freestanding sculpture. He has exhibited extensively in Europe, North America, and Asia over the 2009 to 2013 period, with solo shows in Mannheim, Munich, Frankfurt, Dresden, Toronto, London, and Seoul, and is represented by Peter Zimmermann Gallery in Mannheim, Germany. In 2012, a group of his works dealing with political freedom was confiscated by Chinese authorities before later being released for exhibition in Frankfurt. "I suppose it should be regarded as a badge of honor to be banned for making art about political freedom," Raab said at the time, according to a PR Newswire release from April 2012. He now lives and works in the Santa Barbara, California area.

Raab's exhibition record, drawn largely from Wikipedia's documented list of solo shows, points to steady gallery-level attention in Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, and South Korea between 2009 and 2013, with Mannheim, home to his representing gallery, as the most recurrent venue. He was profiled in NY Arts Magazine in an August 2011 interview by Michael J. Kaufman, though the text of that interview is not available in the sources reviewed here. His 2012 confrontation with Chinese censors over politically themed work drew coverage from PR Newswire and was framed by the artist and his gallery as evidence that the work engages real political stakes rather than purely formal ones. No verbatim assessments from named critics at major outlets could be confirmed for publication here.

Raab's market has developed primarily through gallery representation and touring exhibitions in Europe, North America, and Asia rather than through a documented auction history. Public auction databases and press coverage available as of this writing do not confirm a specific top auction result, work, price, house, or sale date for the artist. Collectors should treat his secondary market as thin and largely undocumented at this time.

Raab's public profile rests on a single documented gallery relationship, Peter Zimmermann Gallery in Mannheim, and there is no confirmed record of his work entering a major museum collection or of a catalogue raisonne. His documented exhibition history is concentrated in a five-year window, 2009 to 2013, in press and gallery materials, and no clearly sourced auction record exists to benchmark price behavior. Anyone considering his work should verify current gallery representation and provenance directly, given how little of his secondary market is presently visible in public records.