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on view November 21 to December 20, 2009 Footnotes For Revelation is a new series of book cuttings on canvas with gold leaf by visual artist Roger Rothstein. At first glance, the seven large-scale gold canvasses are reminiscent of familiar Renaissance paintings. But at closer look, these spiritual splices are collages made of cuttings from glossy artbooks and posters – in a sense, relics of art reproductions. Icons become pattern, skillfully placed with precision by Rothstein who has been described by The New York Times as turning “ephemera into precious relics”. Also on view for this exhibit is an earlier series “Illuminated” of 14 framed black and white pieces in which Rothstein masters the intricacy of cutting along lines of linotype to re-imagine new scenes in collages inspired from Gustave Dore’s illustrations for Milton’s Paradise Lost. Footnotes For Revelation presents skillful challenges for both the artist and the viewer — for Rothstein, working with color, gold leaf, and cutting from glossy, heavy paper from often rare artbooks and posters, are inherently experimental for him stylistically, taking an academic approach in remaking classical Renaissance imagery. Compositionally, in choosing Renaissance icons – whether academic or implying contemporary thought, be it political outrage or personal statement, the work still arrives at classical form, presenting the viewer with iconic images that are seemingly transcendent set in subversive milieu.
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Roger Rothstein, a New York native born 1969, is a 1991 graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where he studied film and television production as well as Art History. A visual artist and production designer, his varied creative talents include collage, sculptural food art, miniature work, and architectural model making. He is also known for his infamous TV appearances co-hosting the Rosie O'Donnell Show while making intricate drawings from the knobs of an Etch-A-Sketch, and on the Food Network where his sculpture “Temple of Snack Foods” was featured. His first solo exhibition “Cultural Residue” was shown in 2005 at The Bond Gallery in NYC and has been presented in group shows at the Jonathon Schorr Gallery in SoHo, The New York Urban Experience Gallery in South Street Seaport, On Gallery in Williamsburg, NYC Board of Education in the Bronx, Vibrant Gallery on Wooster Street, and Omni Gallery in Long Island. Rothstein currently lives and works in New York City. The TOPAZ ARTS Visual Arts Program is supported, in part, |
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