For more than thirty years my studio work has been focused primarily on painting, drawing, and more recently, dioramas. Narrative imagery in various guises has been my long passion: autobiographical, mythological, and quasi historical. These narratives sometimes include figures but sometimes don’t instead focusing on the landscape. The one recurring aspect to my work in any media has been its taking place in an out of doors setting inspired by the landscape painters of art history and those who use the landscape as a character, such as, the rococo artists. I augment these ideas by drawing from nature, a natural subject since I am an avid amateur gardener.
The dioramas began with a failed drawing leading to a complex cut paper diorama with sound and video based on a re-imagined life for Marie Antoinette. This lead to more involved diorama with three dimensional clay figures based on rococo paintings leading to my own narratives using figures alluding to the same time. These dioramas use sound, fans, and light to activate the narrative. The challenges of making three dimensional characters lead me to make a series of fantasy busts sometimes of figures from paintings of the rococo and other times but also as an exploration of facial expressions.
My recent watercolors focus on horticultural images often borrowed from botanical illustrations but also from direct observation. These landscapes focus on the small rather than the large vistas of traditional landscape painting.
Artist Biography
I was born and raised in northeastern Ohio and received my BFA in painting, drawing and graphics from the Ohio State University. I began my undergraduate education there with little idea of what I might major in but fell into a really strong art department for which I am very grateful. From there I went to the University of New Mexico where I received an MA in drawing. Tyler School of Art hired me after I completed graduate school and I continued teaching there until my retirement in 2017.
Education
1973 - 1973 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM Master of Arts Major: Drawing Minor: Painting
1970 - 1971 The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Courses in painting with Hoyt Sherman of the Graduate Painting Department
1965 - 1969 The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Painting, Drawing, and Graphics
Awards & Honors
Honors
2017 FID Prize Nominee
2016 FID Prize Nominee
2007 Philagrafika Print Portfolio Selected Artist
1997 Lila Wallace-Giverny Artists' Residency Program, Giverny, France Invited Applicant
Pew Fellowships in the Arts Finalist, Visual Arts: 2D
1993 Pew Fellowships in the Arts Discipline Winner, Painting
Grants
2012 Independence Foundation, Philadelphia, PA Fellowship In The Arts
2001 Leeway Foundation, Philadelphia, PA Window of Opportunity Grant
1996 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Artists' Fellowship
Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation NEA/Artists' Fellowship, Painting
1983 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Artists' Fellowship
2004 Sozanski, Edward J. Review of Figure Out, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
2003 Donohoe, Victoria. Review of Rosemont College exhibition, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
2000 Donohoe, Victoria. Review of Body Dismorphia, The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 10, 2000.
1999 Sozanski, Edward J. Review of Biographies: Philadelphia Narratives, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 28, 1999.
Rice, Robin. Review of Biographies: Philadelphia Narratives, Philadelphia City Paper, April 2, 1999.
1998 Sozanski, Edward J. Review of Works on Paper 1998 at Beaver College, The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 17, 1998.
Sozanski, Edward J. Review of The Uncanny at the Art Alliance, The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 25, 1998.
Sozanski, Edward J. Review of Biennial '98 at the Delaware Art Museum, The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 19, 1998.
1982 Raynor, Vivien. Review of Selections 17 at the Drawing CenterNew York Times, June 18, 1982.
Publications
2006 "New American Paintings", Mid-Atlantic edition
2005 "Land Grant College Review”, Commission to make a painting for the cover and 14 title pages
Three Decades of American Printmaking, The Brandywine Graphics Workshop Collection, Hudson Hills Press
Collaboration As A Medium, catalog, Pyramid Atlantic Print Shop, Silver Springs, MD
2004 "New American Paintings", Mid-Atlantic edition
2002 “Art In America”, Leeway WOO grant recipients announcement, January
A Creative Legacy: A History of the National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists’ Fellowships Program, National Endowment for the Arts
1999 Philadelphia Biographies, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA Catalogue
Collection
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM Appalachian State University, Boone, NC State University College at Potsdam, NY Library of Congress, Washington, DC Ballard, Spahr, Andrews, and Ingersoll, Philadelphia, PA Brandywine Graphics Workshop, Philadelphia, PA Arcadia University, Glenside, PA Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center, Silver Springs, MD Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA Wellington Wealth Management, London, England Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA Becky and Gil Kerlin, Philadelphia, PA
Panelist
2000 Symposium in conjunction with Body Dismorphia Exhibition
1982 Symposium, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Visiting Artist & Lectures
2016 Towson University, Towson, MD
2012 Brown University, Providence, RI
2004 Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center, Silver Springs, MD
Art Fairs
2015 Drawing Now Paris, Paris, France
2013 PULSE, New York, NY
2008 Aqua Miami, Art Basel Art Fair, Miami, FL
Baltimore Print Fair, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
2007 Aqua Miami, Art Basel Art Fair, Miami, FL
Exhibitions
Solo
2017 The Pursuit of Love, The Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE
2016 Les Histoires, Towson University, Towson, MD
2015 B.F.F., Prints and Installation,, CR Ettinger Studio, Philadelphia, PA
2011 - 2012 Further Tales of Young Marie Antoinette, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA
2007 Le Vraie Histoire de Jeune Marie, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA
Melanee Cooper Gallery, Chicago, IL
2006 Philadelphia Airport, Terminal F, Philadelphia, PA
1999 The Uncanny, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
1981 The Bride, Eric Makler Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Two-Person
2018 What Is Left Behind, Kismet, Philadelphia, PA With Darla Jackson Curator: Tom Judd
1983 Strange Stories, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA With Judith Linhare
Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA With Rochelle Toner
1979 Eric Makler Gallery, Philadelphia, PA With Tom Judd
Group
2019 Prints I Have Known and Loved (The Philadelphia Story), Showcase Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
C.R. Ettinger Studio Excerpts, Millersville State University, Millersville, PA
What’s Going On?, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA
2018 The Neo Victorians, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY
2017 Occotillo, Tyler School of Art, Stella Elkins Tyler Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Curator: Jonathan DeDecker
2016 New Space, New Work, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA
Complete Set, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2015 Picture Perfect, Gallery Neptune & Brown, Washington, DC
Flattening The Form, Robert Brown Gallery, Washington, DC
Goodbye Old City, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA
Works On Paper Survey of Purchase Awards (1978-2009), Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
2014 Philagrafika, Juniata Museum of Art, Juniata, PA
2012 Transformations, Episcopal Cathedral, Philadelphia, PA
All About Etchings, Chris Neptune Gallery, Washington, DC
Biennial, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE Juror: John Revenal
2011 Something French, Art in City Hall, City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
2010 Selections from C. R. Ettinger Studio/2000-10, print show, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Prints By Gallery Artists, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA
2009 50 Very Small Drawings, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA
Fantastical Imaginings, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
2008 Fantastical Imaginings, Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington, DE
The Figure Today, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY The Figure Today, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 Magic Realism, Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA
Philagrafika 2007 Print Portfolio Exhibition, Philagrafika Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2006 Art On Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC Catalog
On Line: Contemporary Drawing, University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
2005 Telling Stories: The Narrative in Contemporary Art,Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, Lancaster, PA
Collaboration As A Medium, Edison Gallery, Washington, DC Travels to Art Place, Baltimore, MD & more sites
2004 Figure Out, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA
2002 25th Anniversary Exhibition, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
2001 Ten Contemporary Artists, 5 x 2, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA
2000 Drawing With Color, Mangel Gallery,Philadelphia, PA
When Reason Dreams: Drawings Inspired By the Visionary, the Fantastic, and the Unreal, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Body Dismorphia, Hicks Art Center, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, PA Curator: Jeanne Jaffe
Allentown Art Museum, 27th Annual Juried Exhibition, Allentown, PA Juror: Judith Tannenbaum, Curator, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1999 Biographies: Philadelphia Narratives, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Catalog
Biographies: Philadelphia Narratives, Freedman Gallery, Albright College, Reading, PA Catalog
1998 In Her Voice: Self-Portraits by Women", Berman Museum of Art, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA
Biennial '98, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE Catalog
Works on Paper 1998, Beaver College, Glenside, PA Juror: Mark Rosenthal, Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1997 Winter Group Show, The Painting Center, New York, NY Invited Artist
1996 Allentown Art Museum, 25th Annual Juried Exhibition, Allentown, PA Juror: Susan Kane, Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art, High Museum, Atlanta, GA
1995 Tyler Faculty Show of Works on Paper, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland
1992 Pertaining to Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Julius Bloch Collection, Philadelphia, PA
What A Beautiful View!, Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA
1991 Small Works, 80 Washington Square East Galleries, New York University, New York, NY
1985 Jeffrey Fuller Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
1984 Kuban Gallery, Cleveland, OH
A Few Fears, Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, PA
1982 Selections 17, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
By The Sea, Barbara Toll Fine Arts, New York, NY
Narrative Settings II, Josef Gallery, New York, NY
Incidents and Events, The Seagram Building, New York, NY
1980 Eccentric Representation, Barbara Toll Fine Arts, New York, NY
1979 Philadelphia Artists Today, Touchstone Gallery, New York, NY
Group Show, Eric Makler Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1977 Beauty of the Beast, Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
Group Show, Hundred Acres Gallery, New York, NY
1976 Summer Scene, Deson-Zaks Gallery, Chicago, IL
