Coral Gables - Art Booklet

ARTIST BIO: Ritchard Rodriguez was born and raised in New York City, studied art at NY's School of
Visual Arts under mentors Gilbert L. Stone and Jonathan Borofsky, migrated once west to Aspen
Colorado for two years where he was invited to exhibit for the very first time (at its Jerome Gallery),
then east to Berlin, Hamburg and Paris for a duration of eight years. There he was represented by art
dealers Michel Ozenne in Paris and Jan de Maere in Brussels who, aside from granting him a solo show
in Paris' first arrondissement, would also include him in the FIAC at the Grand Palais and the Auction
House Elkaim, L’Isle-Adam.
“I was a realist for a good fifteen years, trained in the ways of the old masters by the late Gilbert Stone,
primarily seduced by the Dutch. Before the eight years that I would spend in Europe I met Lisa de
Kooning, friend of a friend’s friend, so became aware of her father, yet another Dutch artist. In fact, de
Kooning, Kline and Joan Mitchell eventually fed my emancipation from the restrictions of academic
realism, and in time I jumped off the cliff of a comfort zone with a hand glider of my own invention
without regrets.”
During the years spent in France the paint took over as Rodriguez discovered freedom within his own
abstraction, substituting figures with strokes or combinations of strokes, exploring the linen he faced
with a preferable honesty, "painting from the heart and guts". He made NY his home and work place
once again, though likewise taking his art materials to tropical Brazil for many winters to come. The
work segued as a result from an industrial edge that included collage and photography along with his
oils, to that of pure abstractions, color and light.
Rodriguez continues to exhibit nationally and internationally, his paintings collected throughout three
continents, even enjoying the success of being presented among ten other artists who participated in
Princess Stephanie of Monaco's annual auction to raise funds for her charity, Fight AIDS Monaco. “His
two paintings were bought by a Monegasque art collector on 1st December 2007 at the auction in
Monte Carlo in the presence of the Princess and her brother, Prince Albert II. Ritchard has a very
particular and unique approach toward the canvas while painting. Each of his work is an emotional
story that belongs to his heart and echoes ours." — Marie-Laetitia Lesaffre (curator).
“When I entered NY's High School of Art & Design I aspired at being a comic-book artist upon
graduation. By the time of my final term there, I bought a box of oil paints that changed my life for
good.” 2014 commemorated 40 years of painting in oils with his NY exhibition, The Keys of Life, hosted
by Atelier in the NYDC.
ARTIST LOCATION: New York, NY
RITCHARD RODRIGUEZ
DAWSON DESIGN ASSOCIATES
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