Simon Raab

Simon Raab
Born1952 (age 73–74)
Toulouse, France
Known forTechnology, physics,Painting, sculpture
Websitehttp://www.parleau.com

Simon Raab is an American contemporary artist, entrepreneur, inventor and scientist.[1]

Early life and education

Simon Raab was born in Toulouse, France in 1952. He was raised in Canada and immigrated to the United States in 1990. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, a Masters of Engineering Physics (Surface Physics) from Cornell University, USA, and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Waterloo, Canada.[2]

Raab lives and works in Santa Barbara, California.

Scientific career

Raab is the co-founder of Faro Technologies. Now retired, he served as chief executive officer of the company from its inception in 1982 until January 2017.[3] Faro sold to Ametek in 2025 for approximately $920 million.

Raab holds more than 80 US patents with associated foreign patents in fields of 3D coordinate measuring systems, bio-materials, medical diagnostics and computerized surgical assistance.[4] He has acted as the Chairman of LunglifeAI focusing on diagnostic tests for early lung cancer and has served as Co-Chairman of TrueDigital Surgical, Inc developing the first digital 3D surgical microscopes and robotic guidance systems.[5]

In 2010, he partially endowed a professor in theoretical astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Barbara held by Lars Bildsten.[6]

Artist

Raab comes from a family involved in creative enterprises. His mother was a landscape artist and an acquaintance of Frederick Varley (1881–1969) from Canada's Group of Seven. Raab's uncle, Ernest Raab was a sculptor of Jewish art and created bronze sculptures and glass altars for synagogues and memorial sites, such as the Holocaust Memorial in Earl Bales Park Toronto, Canada.[7] Raab's aunts were fashion designers and his father Alexandre, was a rose hybridizer and the author of "The Manifesto of Entrepreneurial Democracies".[8]

As a scientist and engineer, Raab claims to bring his technical training in materials to bear on his art:

"My art is the result of my many years working in science and physics, encompassing a career focused on 3D measurement devices. [...] Parleau is about realizations. I realize that when I try to control, I control less. I realize that every time I try to color inside the lines that the color leaks out. I realize that understanding begins by admitting I don't understand. In physics, the uncertainty principle embodies the resistance to precision. The art begins formalized, boundary-delimited and planar, and then begins to quickly escape and deform and seek other dimensions."[9]

Parleau

Raab works in a new medium, he calls and patented as "Parleau" ("Parleaux" in the plural) which is French for 'through the water'.[1] The term suggests the quality of light passing through liquid. He uses large-format sheets of metal (aluminum or stainless steel) which he paints first and then forms and sculpts by hand. He creates wall-mounted paintings with embedded frames and freestanding volumetric sculptures.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions (selection)

  • "Pull the Pin", Mannheim, Germany, 2012/2013
  • "Crushed", Toronto, Canada, 2012
  • "Vibrations", Dresden, Germany, 2012
  • "Dichtung und Wahrheit", Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 2012
  • "Surface Tension", Seoul, South Korea, 2012
  • "Parleau 2007–2011", Munich, Germany, 2011
  • "From Behind These Bars", Mannheim, Germany, 2011
  • "Complexhibition", Mannheim, Germany, 2011
  • "From Behind These Bars", Vienna, Austria, 2011
  • "Attraverso l'acqua - Parleau", Massa, Italy, 2010/2011
  • "What comes together must come apart", Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2010
  • "Attraverso l'acqua - Parleau", Lucca, Italy, 2010
  • "Also too late for shame", Mannheim, Germany, 2010
  • "The Sun Does Set", London, UK, 2010
  • "New Objects - Parleau", Mannheim, Germany, 2009

Selected bibliography

Exhibition catalogs and monographs

  • Simon Raab - Vibrations. Exhibition catalog: Kunsthalle Dresden (publisher), with contributions by Dirk Gädeke and Michael Schultz, 2012, ISBN 978-3-939983-57-6
  • Simon Raab - From Behind These Bars. Exhibition catalog: Vienna Künstlerhaus and Mannheimer Kunstverein, Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg (publisher), with contributions by Peter Bogner, Martin Stather and Milan Chlumsky, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86984-210-3
  • Simon Raab - Parleau - Attraverso l'acqua. Exhibition catalog: Chiesa di San Matteo/Lucca and Palazzo Ducale Massa, Italy, with contributions by Maurizio Vanni and Alessandro Romanini, Claudio Poleschi Art Contemporanea (publisher), 2010
  • Simon Raab - Parleau. Monograph with contributions by Gerard Haggerty, Ulrike Lorenz, Martin Stather and Carsten Ahrens, Galerie Peter Zimmermann (publisher), 2010, ISBN 978-3-9808352-8-2
  • Simon Raab - Parleau. Exhibition catalog: Galerie Peter Zimmermann, with a contribution by Gerard Haggerty, 2009

Articles

References

  1. ^ a b Haggerty, Gerard (2010). "Surface Tension": Simon Raab - Parleau. Mannheim, Germany: Galerie Peter Zimmermann. pp. 27–32. ISBN 978-3-9808352-8-2.
  2. ^ "Simon Raab". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Company History". FARO Technologies. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  4. ^ "Simon Raab Inventor Patent Directory". Google Patents.
  5. ^ "Simon Raab: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  6. ^ "The Wayne Rosing, Simon and Diana Raab Chair in Theoretical Astrophysics | KITP". 2012-05-24. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  7. ^ Gasner, Cynthia (9 January 2012). "Obit: artist Ernest Raab (died 2003)". Bill Gladstone. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  8. ^ Metz, Robert (1990). "Book Review: The Manifesto of Entrepreneurial Democracy". Freedom Party of Ontario. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  9. ^ Raab, Simon (2010). Artist's Statement: Simon Raab - Parleau. Mannheim, Germany: Galerie Peter Zimmermann. p. 118. ISBN 978-3-9808352-8-2.
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