Rhonda Schaller

Artist Statement

Although there is a methodology and a sustained aesthetic, each painting represents a meditation for me, a journey into an unforeseen landscape and destination. The finished piece is always a surprise, holding within it elements of both controlled specificity and channeled chaos.

I work for months on many canvases, usually working on three at a time. The textures of my canvases are deep and varied. My work develops slowly and through layered accumulation of color and intent; my tools are my consciousness, my palette knife, and my hands. Articulating the invisible processes of the universe in shape and color is at the heart of my subject matter. There is an intrinsic connectedness in my work to the poetry of spiritual means and meaning, exemplified in the ancient teachings, as well as the poetics of visualization and process as a painter.

My main influences include my meditation practice of 30 years, noting how meditation in sacred places affects my pallet, composition, and forms. From the Mark Rothko chapel in Houston, to the ancient temple paintings of Pagan, Burma – my travels over 25 years to sacred sites in Asia and Greece have formed the basis of my consciousness and current body of work.

My work strives to express the ineffable. A soulful and authentic composition of my humanity.

Bio

Rhonda Schaller was born in NYC in 1958. A graduate of Queens college, she is a full time artist and writer who has received grants in support of her artwork for the last nine years.

She is in the permanent collections of the Exit Art/Reactions collection at the Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art’s Franklin Furnace/Book Art archives, Memorial Art Gallery Museum at the University of Rochester , and Dartmouth University’s Medical School C. Everett Coop Institute/Art of Healing gallery.

In 2003 She received a five year grant from the Alan B. Slifka for the DARKNESS and LIGHT project exploring THE WORLD AFTER 9/11 works on paper and canvas, sponsored by Ceres gallery, NYC.

She opened the Rhonda Schaller Studio in the Chelsea art district in 2006 as a gallery, mentoring space and working artist studio. She recently completed a multiple edition print commission for The Abraham Fund Coexistence Initiative.

In 2007 she was awarded a commendation for her painting Ether and Chaos from the IJAYA Ben Uri Gallery London Jewish Museum of Art. Her upcoming metaphysical travel memoir “Called or Not, the Spirits are Present” is due for publication by Blue Pearl Press in 2008.

Resume

Rhonda Schaller lives in New York City.

EXHIBITIONS:

2006

2006 Ceres Gallery, New York , NY (solo)

2005

Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, La (solo)

2005

The Parker Gallery, Washington D.C.

2005

Ceres Gallery, New York, NY

2005

Ukrainian Institute of Contemporary Art, Chicago IL

2004

Artists’ Space, NY, NY

2004

Robert Rentz Gallery, Richmond, VA (solo)

2003

Memorial Art Gallery Univ. of Rochester, NY

2003

David Leonardis Gallery, Chicago, IL

2003

The Art Store, Charleston, WV

2003

David Leonardis gallery, NY, NY

2003

ART4love.com, NY, NY

2003

Howard Arts Center, Maryland

2003

Ceres Gallery, New York, NY

2002

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

2002

Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery, Art Center College of Design; Pasadena, CA.

2002

The Fire Museum, New York, NY

2002

Pelham Arts Center, Pelham, NY

2002

25th Small Works; 80 Washington Square East Galleries, NYC

2002

REACTIONS; EXIT ART; New York, NY

2002

Interieurs Gallerie, NY, NY (solo)

2002

59 Franklin Street Gallery; New York, NY (solo)

2000

59 Franklin Street Gallery; New York, NY (solo)

2000

The Fire Museum; New York, NY

1999

Kingsborough Community College Art Gallery

1998

FrauenMuseum Kunstlerforum, Bonn Germany

1998

Alani Fine Arts, New York, NY

1998

Soho20 Gallery, New York, NY

1998

Amaranth Gallery; New York, NY (solo)

1998

C. Everett Koop Institute/Dartmouth Univ, The Art of Healing Gallery, Hanover, NH (solo)

1997

Alani Fine Arts New York, New York

1997

Artscene Ma'Zine, , America Online (solo)

1996

St. Marks Church on the Bowery, NYC

1995

Bejing, China

1995

Ceres Gallery, New York , NY (solo)

1994

Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY

1994

Ceres gallery, New York, NY

1993

Ceres Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1992

Ceres Gallery New York, NY

1991

AIR Gallery, New York, NY

1991

Iowa State University, Iowa

1991

Krasdale Corporation, Bronx, NY

1991

Ceres Gallery, New York, NY

1990

Soho 20 Gallery, New York, NY

1989

The Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

1989

Ceres Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1989

Saint Peter's Church, New York, NY(solo)

1988

Ceres Gallery, New York, NY

1988

Krasdale Corporation; Bronx, NY

1987

Ceres Gallery, New York, NY

1987

Erector Square Gallery, New Haven, CT (solo)

1986

Ceres Gallery, New York, NY(solo)

1986

The Open Center, New York

1986

Ceres Gallery, New York, NY

1986

AIR Gallery, New York, NY

1985

1985 Feminist Art Institute; New York, NY

1985

Ravenswood Gallery, LIC, NY (solo)

1985

Ceres Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1984

1984 Mail Art Then and Now; Franklin Furnace, NY

COLLECTIONS:
C.EVERETT KOOP INSTITUTE at Dartmouth University- online in perpetuity
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, Washington D.C. - EXIT ART, Reactions collection
MEMORIAL ART GALLERY UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART- Franklin Furnace Artist Book Collection

GRANTS AND AWARDS:
IJAYA Ben Uri Gallery London Jewish Museum of Art commendation
The Abraham Fund - Coexistence Print Commission
Alan B. Slifka Foundation
Artists Space/Artist Grant
Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
Rotunda gallery Honorarium

EDUCATION:
Queens College, City University of New York B.A. 1979

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Jaquish, David A; 2007 Make art Buy art Collect art: Guides to American Artists, Blue Pearl Press
Searle, Marjorie; 2003 Artist’s New York, All Around the Town; exhibition essay
Malloy, Judy; The Current; Artswire 2002 March 19th issue
editor; The New York Times; April 23, 2002, pg.9 New York Downtown
Jones, Patricia Spears; 2002 Tower and Hole
DeVonish, Kerwin, videographer, Video Essay - 22 minutes “If I can Listen to the song my soul sings”, 1998
Nicolson, Mia; Artscene Ma'Zine, 1997
Blanchon, Robert; the conspiracy of interpretation; 1995
Blanchon, Robert guest editor; a wretch like me, Whitewalls journal; 1994
Doyle, Janet; The NY Vista Guide; 1994
Hasseltine, Mara; Wave Magazine (Japan); 1994
editor; The Villager; 1993 pg.14
Jones, Patricia Spears; 1992
Phillips, Renee; Manhattan Arts; 1991 pg 15
editor; The Daily Tribune; 1991 pg A9
Kranz, W.; The New York Art Review; 1988
Gonzales, Shirley; New Haven Register; 1987 pg.5
Jacobs, Celia; Women Artist's News; 1984