At an early age I learned about art from an aunt who was an established artist. My father taught me a love of literature. My B.A. was in English Lit. My graduate degrees from Columbia University were in studio art and teaching of college studio art.
As part of my studies at Columbia, I studied communication theory under Louis Forsdale. As a result, I learned how important the primal mediums of painting and drawing were to ballance the deluge of electronic media.
I had exhibitions in New York City during and after my grad work at Columbia. These included: The Macy Gallery at Columbia; Hudson Valley '85 National Exhibition Juried by Barbara Haskell, Curator of the Whitney Museum; Ariel Gallery in NYC; The Emerging Collector in NYC; Eighth Annual Exhibition of Emerging Artists at the Bronx Museum of the Arts; and In Search of the American Experience by The Museum of the National Arts Foundation. There were also reviews in The New York Times, ArtSpeak (a Gallery Review), and the Bronx News.
More recently, I show my work online at charlesrileyart, exhibit in shows at the Fredericksburg Center for Creative Arts in Fredericksburg, VA. From 2012 through 2013 I displayed my artwork at Art First in Fredericksburg VA. Fredericksburg and Art First are very magical places if you ever get a chance to visit.
My artwork includes painting, mixed media, photography, and computer art, as well as a synthesis of the media. The work is expressionistic and it reflects what it is to be human. My writing, which I combine with the artwork, also reflects the human condition. The artwork is also a means to balance mundane conditioning that distracts us from the unconditioned creativity of the universe. My artwork is fed by relationships and other pursuits and studies such as Tai Chi, Taoism, Literature, Music, Media, and Art.
I studied Tai Chi with Master Da Liu in the 80's at Columbia University and I've been practicing and teaching since. I'm now teaching at two community centers in the Fredericksburg, VA area.
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Certification 2020 Pending certification
Macy Art GAllery, West 120th Street, New York, NY, USA
online at See Not See | Celebrating Bridges | Exploration (macyartgallery.com)
Expressionistic, poetic video of digital artwork.
animated video of digital painting.
Story of art critic shooting and stabbing painting followed by video of painting.
Poem and Video of artwork.
Acrylic, marble dust, toys, computer parts applied to canvas for September 11 Meditation.
I lived in NYC for 15 years not far from the trade towers in The West Village and Chelsea. Got married. Moved to the Bronx; then Fredericksburg, Virginia. Was working in DC when 9/11 and the slaughter of innocents occurred. My brother-in-law was doing business in a building next to one of the trade towers when the planes hit. He had to walk home to Brooklyn in raining ash. It's a sad human trait that we can find pride in the demonization and destruction of innocent people. What a horrifying thought that many people can rationalize hate filled destruction. I thought it appropriate to use a toy airplane because the hijackers reminded me of children in a tantrum. They saw people as insignificant and small, like shadows of real people, targets of their impotent lashing out like childish bullies. Communication equipment, what connects, was destroyed and meaningless without human connection. Marble dust is a monument to death, white and cold and empty with the sense of loss.
I learned Tai Chi from Master Da Liu in the 80's and have been practicing and teaching since then.
Chi Kung and Tai Chi. See middle left window to start.
Chi Kung and Tai Chi
Chi Kong and Tai Chi Form
Bronx News review of show at Bronx Museum
Review of work at Emerging Collector.
New York Times Review of show at the Bronx Museum.
September 1989 Exhibit at the Museum of the National Arts Foundation
Conceptual, expressionistic work on myth, superstition, and wonder at nature.
Conceptual expressionistic work on science and unintended consequences.
Conceptual Expressionistic work on media and culture.
Art First Gallery 824 Caroline Street Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Phone - 540.371.7107
With my artwork, I explore where experience, literature and art merge. My artwork is about exploration, expression, creative freedom, growth, and the search for meaning and balance. Through a variety of media, I seek a balance between the mechanics of technology, nature, and what it is to be human. The expressive artwork combines literary and visual treasure from Eastern and Western Culture in a very human experience.
824 Caroline St., Fredericksbuirg, VA 22401
Join us in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a center for art, music, food, antiques, and history. Serving the art community since 1992, we're located in the center of the historic old town on the fall line of the beautiful Rappahannock River. We are conveniently located between Washington, D.C., Richmond, Charlottesville, and Williamsburg. You can google us or go to http://www.artfirstgallery.com
Join us in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a center for art, music, food, antiques, and history. Serving the art community since 1992, we're located in the center of the historic old town on the fall line of the beautiful Rappahannock River. We are conveniently located between Washington, D.C., Richmond, Charlottesville, and Williamsburg. You can google us or go to http://www.artfirstgallery.com
